Rainbow Name Tracing Activity

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. View our full disclosure policy here.

259 Shares

In Kindergarten, we start learning to recognize and write our names as soon as we come back to school and we practice all year long. Teaching children to write their names is not an easy skill, and I try to find any clever way to help us sneak in more name writing practice. This paint and foil Rainbow Name Tracing Activity is a perfect art and literacy activity all in one!

*Pair with our EDITABLE Name Games and Activities Bundle!

This Name Tracing Activity for Kindergarten is the perfect, hands-on way to work on name writing skills while combining art and literacy!

Rainbow Name Tracing Activity

Why write your name when you could paint it? Or at least that’s what I tell myself when I see children who can write their names, but really have little to no interest and would rather do something else all day. So I’m always looking for ways to make name writing practice extra fun and engaging!

You’ll just need some simple materials for this name tracing activity. Nothing fancy. Aren’t the simplest projects the best?

Make name writing practice extra fun with some foil and paint.

Materials:

  • Aluminum foil (or a mirror would work too!)
  • Paint brushes
  • Cotton swabs (also known as Q-Tips)
  • Paint

We decided to use foil for this activity because we have wanted to try that for a long time since we saw this art project with paint and foil on Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds. But we also have done this with a mirror and it turns out just as awesome! Mirrors are best only if you have lots of mirrors or only one child.

Let’s get started!

Step 1:

Paint the child’s name onto the aluminum foil. Just use a normal paintbrush and paint it on.

We chose white, but it could be another color. Do this a few hours before you actually plan to have the children trace their names. You’ll see why in step 2.

Step 2:

Let the paint dry! Planning ahead is super helpful.

We tried it with both wet and dry paint, and wet paint works in a pinch, but dry paint is definitely the way to go.

Begin by painting each child's name in white paint on the foil.

Step 3:

Set out the paints, and let the children start tracing their names with cotton swabs or paint brushes.

Set out the paints, and let the children start tracing their names with cotton swabs or paint brushes.

I love that the cotton swabs are the absolute perfect size for little hands. They are small enough to help children have good fine motor control. Plus, they are super fun and irresistible.

We just love using things other than plain old paintbrushes.

Cotton swabs are easy for small hands to hold and make the perfect painting tool.

Keep in mind that foil crumples really easily!

I like to snap a photo of the project after we’ve finished so I can see the progress the child has made writing their name throughout the year.

But if you want to save this name tracing activity, you’ll need to put it in something sturdy such as a manila folder to keep it from getting ruined.

Kids can continue this name tracing activity using all of the colors of the rainbow to paint their names.

Want unlimited access to even MORE of our activities and resources? Join us in the Print and Play Club!

Your planning will be so much easier with instant access to:

  • hundreds of printables
  • every TKC resource
  • video lessons
  • a digital games vault
  • Pre-K and TK Scope & Sequence
  • a PLAYlist of fun songs AND activities
  • professional development
  • additional teacher resources…
Want unlimited access to tons of activities and resources for Pre-K, TK, and Kindergarten? Join us in the Print and Play Club!

Be sure to request an invitation so that you don’t miss your chance to be part of the best early childhood club around!

Katie
259 Shares

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *