Simple Preschool Name Magnets

At my church, I help out with the 2-year old kids. As you can imagine, this can get a little crazy. We have a great organization and stick to a tight schedule so that the kids (and adults) can make it through two hours incident free.

This project came about to serve several purposes. First, these name magnets help the adults know which kids are there each Sunday and remember their names. Second, the magnets hold the childrens' coloring pages until they go home. And third, they help jazz up an otherwise boring and generic classroom.

The great thing is that this project is one that even slightly older kids could do themselves! Here is a simple tutorial:

For the project, all you need is craft foam (from the dollar store), school glue, scissors, and a pen or marker.

Decide what shapes you want on your magnet and cut them out. I decided to do an animal that corresponds with each letters (as in J for jackrabbit). For some of the more complicated animals, I found a simple online tutorial to help me draw a recognizable animal.

Then, paste your shapes onto the background. School glue will adhere well once it dries. While it is wet, the foam is extremely slippery! So try to position everything and then leave it alone until it dries.

Then I colored the outside edge of the shapes (and the details on the animal) with a marker to make them stand out and wrote the child's name on the background. Attach a magnet to the back and you're done!

{Linked on Embracing Change, Sensational Creations, Live Laugh Rowe, I Gotta Create, 7Alive, 52 Mantels, The 36th Avenue, Joyful Homemaking, The Crafty Blog Stalker}