We have mounds of seashells we’ve collected from our beach trips. During the summer we end up using a lot of them for play and learning. If you don’t have access to shells, you can also find them at craft stores. For this activity we gathered a few shells and made our own “pearls” to practice name recognition. Handling those tiny pearls is also great for practicing the pincer grasp that kids will use for handwriting.
Get a full week of summer learning! Try our beach theme, shell theme, or ocean theme lesson plans.
To set up this name game, you’ll need shells, white pony beads, blue pony beads (optional), and a fine point permanent marker.
Label the inside of each shell with on of the letters in your child’s name. Then label some beads with each of the letters. I think I made five of each letter.
Begin playing by having your child name the letter on each “pearl” and then placing it in the matching seashell.
Continue until all pearls have been matched to a shell.
Then have your child practice spelling his or her own name by selecting a bead from each shell and lining them up to spell.
You can leave this out as a learning tray option for a week or so. Then grab some lanyard string and have your child make a name necklace by lacing the “pearls” on the necklace and placing a blue bead in between for a space.
More Fun with Seashells
Get a Full Week of Beach Theme Learning and Play
Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.
This set includes active hands-on learning ideas and the following printables:
1) Beach 5 Senses Recording Sheet
2) Initial Sound Clip Cards
3) Seashell and Bucket Rhyming Game (-en, -at, -et, and -ug word families)
4) Seashore Counting Mats for Numbers 1-15
5) At the Beach Emergent Reader (2 Versions)
6) 1-35 Beach Theme Calendar and Number Cards
7) Beach Pattern and Counting Seashell Cards
8) Sand Castle Shape Matching Game
9) Uppercase and Lowercase Alphabet Matching Flip Flop Cards
Get Your Lesson Plans
Home Preschool Beach Theme Lesson Plans
Preschool Classroom Beach Theme Lesson Plans
Find more inspiration in our ocean theme.
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