This turkey name craft is one of our favorite ways to practice sequencing the letters of kids’ names!
Thanksgiving is a great time to incorporate fun, festive themes into educational activities, and a turkey-themed name craft is a perfect way to do just that!
This activity targets fine and visual motor skills, helping young children learn to recognize, sequence, and write the letters in their name.
For preschoolers and early elementary students, understanding how to spell and write their own names is a big step in literacy and feeling confident in their personal identity.
Looking for more turkey-themed fun this Thanksgiving season? Try this fun turkey sensory bin!
The Progression of Name Writing Skills
Name-writing development typically follows a predictable progression:
Recognition: The first step is for kids to simply recognize their own name in print. Many kids can identify their name on items like lunchboxes, cubbies, or classroom materials. This helps build early letter recognition, as children start associating letters with their identity.
Sequencing Letters: After recognizing their name, children begin to understand that letters need to be in a specific order to create meaning. Sequencing the letters of their name is an essential skill that translates to other literacy tasks, such as understanding the structure of words.
Copying: Once they’re familiar with the letters in their name and the order they go in, kids can begin tracing and copying the letters. At first, they may trace over a dotted outline (we also like to use bubble letters for this). Over time, they’ll become more independent.
Writing Independently: The final stage is writing their name on their own without assistance. This stage involves refined fine motor skills, letter formation knowledge, and memory of the letter sequence.
By creating a name craft, children can practice each of these steps in a fun, engaging way. And what better theme for November than a turkey?
Looking for other ways to work on names? Check on these Name Writing Practice Ideas for Kids or these Name Activities for Kids: Your Name is a Song.
Turkey Name Craft: Step-by-Step Guide
What You’ll Need
-Printable craft (see form below)
-Glue
-Scissors
-Crayons (optional)
-Paper
What to Do:
Decide whether you’ll use the color version of the printable craft or the black and white version (letting kids color the feathers themselves).
Help kids write each letter of their name in the circles on each feather. If using the black and white version, have kids color each feather too. Cut out the feathers, or have kids cut them out on their own.
Mix up the feathers and see if kids can put them back in the correct sequence to spell their name. Then, have them glue the feathers onto a piece of paper in a semi circle shape. Finally, have them glue the turkey’s body in the middle of the feathers to complete the craft!
Skill areas addressed:
Fine motor skills, visual motor skills, visual perception, scissor skills
