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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Tag... You're It! The Art of Making Name Tags


School is just around the corner and I love using these name tags in my classroom. These are easy to make and the children think they are so special. I am not a fan of the standard name tag made with soft yarn since my students often chew on them or twist the cord around until I am fearful that they will cut off their circulation!
Right? Kinder teachers know exactly what I mean. 


These tags can be purchased in Walmart and the clips are sold separately. I use it as a learning tool in the beginning making all the vowels in red. I put a pocket chart outside of my classroom with these tags and the parents put them on their own children, avoiding any mistakes when you are meeting a shy child ( or crying student) on the first day. You could even send these in the mail with your welcome letter! 


Notice that each tag has a small icon under it. Many of our students come to school without being able to recognize their own name. The icon under their name serves as a scaffold to help them remember which card belongs to them. After the first few days I play all kinds of games with these tags to build their letter knowledge and to help them recognize and write their name. I am giving you a set for your classroom and this is a special gift for those of you teaching transitional kindergarten! Click here if you want these and please be sure to follow me for more freebies. Do you have a better name tag idea? I hope you will share your ideas! 

52 comments:

Michelle Griffo said...

Omg. I always worry that they will twist the yarn and cut off their circulation too! ha, I need to get these plastic goodies!

Michelle
Apples and ABC's

Kate said...

I love the idea of having an icon based nametag. I am going to have to try this year!
Kate
http://funinecse.blogspot.com/

Mrs. Rodman said...

Fran, I am unable to access the name tags. Is anyone else having trouble?

Mrs. McHaffie said...

Your name tags are just precious! I love the different icon for each name tag. I never thought about that! Brilliant! :)
I usually use yarn with name tags that I laminate, however, they always break them and they always complain about the yarn itching...so...this is going to be my new method.
Thanks for the super cute freebie and great idea!

Kelly
Beg, Borrow, Steal

meostressed said...

These look great (though I can't get the link to work)! How many come in a package at Walmart? Do you reuse them each year or just buy new? Do any of the kids chew on them? That's what I always dread about name tags!

Miss Trayers said...

Great ideas-I really need to get some of those badges. The quote at the top just cracked me up-they will eat just about anything, won't they? :)

NotJustChild'sPlay

Kimberly said...

Hi Fran,
Love your name tags! I just use a piece of scrap book paper (usually cardstock) with their names printed on a blank label. I use different card stock for each kid and their name tag matches their locker tag to help them find their things. Then our school gives us the name tag holders.
Kimberly
Funky First Grade Fun

Pam said...

Love these but the link won't pull up

Allison said...

Hi Fran! Thanks for the freebie. I tried to grab it but it said "not found". Perhaps, some sort of computer glitch. I love using name tags for class activities, too. I always make a second set and make a name bag. The name bag has the name tags (just first names), pictures of the children, and letter tiles. Each child brings the bag home for a night and they practice the names with their families and "introduce" their new friends to their families. Please stop by my blog for some freebies I can share with you!

Allison
Climbing the Monkey Bars

Ashley said...

Hey Fran!! We do the same thing at our school but yours are way cooler! I love the idea of playing games. You have so many great ideas. I can only dream of my blog eventually being half as good of yours!

http://kinderkronicles.blogspot.com/

Fran Kramer said...

Sorry about the link. I fixed it and it should work. I am tired.

Unknown said...

Love the icon idea..thanks for the suggestions :)

http://mspasquakinder.blogspot.com

Kerri Buckner said...

Love these name tags. Looks like a trip to walmart is in my future. I'm going to be in trouble for spending more money. Thanks for sharing.
Ms. Kerri and her Krazy Kindergarten

Unknown said...

I used these awesome tags last year! Thank you so much. I will be downloading these and using them again this year. The tag holders at Walmart are great, cheap and I don't get nervous about choking.
Thank you!

Unknown said...

LOVE THESE! I used them last year and they worked great with the Walmart clear tag holders.
Thanks again.

Carole said...

Thanks so much for the freebie. I am going to use them. I was able to get it with no problem. I know exactly what you mean about the yarn necklaces:)
Thanks for sharing,
Carole
kindercarole

Patsi K in MN said...

LOVE this Fran! I bought the tags and clips last year and never used them - so with your FREEBIE I'm all set! I sometimes print address labels with their names in a big font and they stick right on! Great for a quick sub plan fill-in! However, they don't last all day usually. I like to cut the end off of a legal size envelope and put the stack of name tags in the envelope and then slide the name cards out revealing one letter at a time time and they guess/predict whose name it will be.

Patsi K in MN
www.abc123kindergarten.blogspot.com

Pingles said...

Love these! You had told us about them at a SD and I ran right out. So cheap and reusable! You are so right about the independence, so come in totally doing it themselves, others try, and then there are the ones who just wait for you to do it for you....ugh, good informal assessment!

I haven't used the icons before but I certainly shall now. Great idea.

Kourtney Payton said...

Great idea! The only thing I do different is that I don't put them in the badge holders...I just laminate and punch three holes at the top and stick the holder through..that way if they chew on them, they are chewing on the name tag itself and not a plastic holder. Thanks for sharing!

Marielle Slappe said...

Thanks, these are superand cute & I love the icons! I wondering... How did you print their names on them?

marislappe@gmail.com
marislappe.blogspot.com

Marielle Slappe said...

Thanks, these are super cute & I love the icons! I was wondering, how did you print their names on them?

marislappe@gmail.com
marislappe.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for these name tags....YEA!! One thing less to worry about.
Meg

Pam Phillips said...

I can't type on these adorable nametags. Please advise. Plus, I have used these nametags from Walmart for several years. Works great!!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the freebies! Love them. I used the name tags from Walmart last year and loved them. Thanks again for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the freebies... they are so cute! Love them! I used the name tag holders from Walmart last year and loved them. Thanks again for sharing!

Isabel Z said...

These are absolutely adorable. Thank you so much for sharing them. I too wonder how you go about typing on them?

Carol said...

Oh I love these! Super cute! I was just thinking about name tags today. :)
-Carol
Mrs. Cobb's Kinder Sprouts
Come see my poster giveaway!

Fran Kramer said...

These need to stay in a PDF file due to copyright regulations but you can easily use an address label and lay in right on top or write in each child's name.

nvaille said...

Love these! Thank you - I love the idea of keeping them in a basket for a substitute to use - saves having to keep sticker labels in my sub binder:)

Tracey said...

I'm your newest follower. I've added a lot of blogs to my list tonight, but I'm most excited about yours. Shhh!!! ;)

Tracey
Our Cool School

Unknown said...

Thanks Fran! Another excellent idea :)

Kelley Dolling said...

Fran . . . these are fantastic. Not only are they cute as all get out, but they just make sense. I am so showing these to all my KInder friends :) Great post today, my friend.

Kelley Dolling
Teacher Idea Factory

Pingles said...

I saw the comments about the wanting to type in the names. I wanted to also but then thought about using the clear labels I have to print out the names and then just stick them to the front. Yippeee, I like them all typed up nice and neat!

Ketchen's Kindergarten said...

You are the best! Thanks for sharing. And for giving me another excuse to go to Walmart (as if I needed one - haha). :)

Arianne
Ketchen's Kindergarten

DebbieD said...

Thank you for the cute name tags! I think I will try this method.

Susie Buetow said...

Wow this is wonderful. We love teacher ideas and can't wait to take a peek at more on your blog.

If you have time, please share it in our Crafty Showcase. We run it Sat-Thur and showcase our favorites on Friday.

Thanks much

Susie @Bowdabra
http://bowdabrablog.com/2012/07/27/saturday-showcase-craft-projects-12/

Maggie's Kinder Corner said...

Fran,
I have done this for years with student's lunch tickets, cubby labels, etc. I was about to make these tags for the name tag holders, then happened to look at my blog roll! Thank you for saving me so much time. I am using clear mailing labels to put names on. Any venture at a guess on the font size for the space on your tags? I can figure it out, but thought you might have an idea. I have owned Schoolhouse Zaner-Bloser type fonts since...ummm...1999? I still use it every day. However, the size for it is much smaller than other fonts with the same pt size. What school font do you use? Love you girl!
Thanks!
Maggie (Maggie's Kinder Corner)

Mrs. Larremore said...

Fran- These are awesome! Thanks so much for sharing them! Those yarn name tags drive me crazy for the same reasons you listed. Since I am going back into the classroom this year I am so happy to have something else to use. Thanks!
Chalk Talk

Jeannie said...

Fran - LOVE LOVE LOVE your name tags and how you use vowels as a different colors (something I don't usually bother with at the beginning - but why not?)

I don't use the yarn lanyards either - they will choke themselves!

Also love the idea to post them outside where parents put them on.....will do that this year!

jeannie
Kindergarten Lifestyle

Curious Catherine said...

I wonder... have you ever heard of letter links. What it is is finding a picture of an object that has the same start-sound/letter as the child's name. THAT way, they can learn to make connections. I think it would be a GREAT idea.

Lallygirl said...

I use a website called www.eichild.com as they have a free Just for Me label maker. These labels also have icons. I make labels for the childrens hooks to hang their bags, on the storage cubby hole and even their take home file that are all matching for the begiining of the year.

Anonymous said...

I Love the idea of the icons on the nametags. Being new to kindergarten, there is still so much I don't remember to think about. I remember now being surprised last year at how many of my kinders didn't recognize their name and how long it took some of them. Last year I wanted to use the badges, but Wal-Mart was sold out. I used plastic lacing instead of yarn, it helped a little...but not enough. I also like the idea of having the parents put the nametags on before they get into the classroom. I made sure that the kiddos wore their nametags to their special classes for the first few weeks. Our special teachers were appreciative, as the other teachers didn't seem to do that.

Terri Izatt
KinderKapers

Anonymous said...

I love your icon idea Fran! Too cute. I purchased these from Office Max last year and somehow they ended up all wet and gross after about a month. (don't ask me how a kinder could get these wet... drinking fountain, chewing...) I will need to add these to my Walmart list!

Tonia said...

Fran,
Thank you so much! I can't wait to try these new nametags. They are so cute. I was in a big hurry and bought vertical instead of horizontal, so I'm on my way back to Walmart!
tonia
mrsvento.blogspot

Sheri said...

Thanks for sharing...very cute!

Sheri said...

Thanks for sharing...very cute!

Mrs. Cher Harrison said...

So cute!! :) Thanks!

We Teach Like A Rockstar said...

Hey, Fran! I bought all of the parts that I needed a few weeks ago and was thrilled to see your cute freebie name tags. I can't wait to make them. Thanks, LuAnn

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Unknown said...

Your name tags are precious,Thanks for sharing this to us, your blog is really great we can learn something to it, keep up the good work my friend.

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