Toddler Name Paintings

The beginning of the school year is a time of getting to know one another’s names, and this is a fun way for toddlers to be introduced to the look of their own names!

All it involves are construction paper, painter’s tape, fingerpaint, and a willing child’s hands. Thanks to Mrs. Karen for the idea! I do this every year with my kiddos!

There is some adult preparation involved – spell out each child’s name on the construction paper using painter’s tape. I used the larger (legal) size of paper since I had a few longer names in my class, but you can see the shorter names just get to be bigger!

Then just set out some spoonfuls of fingerpaint and let the children mix them together! Make sure they cover the tape entirely.

I love turning this into a color mixing activity too. I purposely had each child end up with a different color, and we talked about colors and the letters in their names as they were smooshing the paint all around.

Not that they were really thinking about the colors or the letters – they were totally absorbed in the feel of the paint, which is still a great sensory activity for these young ones – but maybe some of the color and letter conversation soaked through their spongy minds and will be remembered at a future date.

Of course, we can’t paint without getting messy!

For the record, the color combinations we used were… blue + yellow = green

Blue + red + yellow = brown

Red + yellow = orange

Blue + red = purple

Blue + black = dark blue

Red + white = pink

 Blue + green + white = teal/turquoise

Once the paint is dried, carefully remove the tape to reveal their names in white underneath all that paint!

The blue painter’s tape allows the children to see the letters as they paint over them, and then when they are removed, it is a colorful work of art!