How did you teach your child to write their name?

[Ready4Primary]

Hi all,

My 4yr old starts school in September and they said they'd like them all to be able to write their name. He can do the first two letters but then he becomes disheartened, says he can't do it and will tantrum and give up.

I've tried to make it fun, he knows how to hold a pencil so it's not that...what can I do?

You could try

Writing it for him to trace over it with pen or with paints
Write it in dots for him to join up
Use a paint brush with water on a wall outside
Help him write using his his finger in sand or mud
Use play doe to either make marks in it to write his name or role out worms to creat the letters

Also I think you could show him that you don't get it right first time.

What? He is 4 !!
What school is this?
First two letters are fine
Lots of praise and well done
Recognising his name or first letter is fine

Neither of my children could write their names before they started school. Don't worry about it.

Does he have an easy or hard name?
Getting though Tim is a lot easier than getting through Benjamin or Alexander.
But they could learn to write Ben or Alex.

I wouldn't push it. Mine didn't do it until school.

But maybe try something different to pen/paper . Try writing patterns in sand, mud ect

Can they they build it yet? Use magnetic letters, letter blocks, you write the separate letters on post it's and they put them in the right order. Start by copying their name and then take that away once they're confident.
When writing- start with something temporary - a whiteboard and pen, using water and a paint brush on the patio, using a finger in shaving foam etc.

Remember capital letter to start and the rest in lower case.

It will be very beneficial if they've at least made a good start on this skill before September so keep going. Little and often is the best way- so five mins a day rather than a stressful half hour grilling once a week!

Thanks all, some great suggestions here which I think he will love.

I won't push him too much, hopefully by making it fun he will want to do it :)

I just did the puzzle one of his name, with a card that had his name on it so he could copy from there. He did it but then said "do I get chocolate now" 🙈 (he doesn't)