It just wouldn’t be Christmas without a good old name puzzle! This has been a classic over the years in our home, with all of my children creating many (many) name puzzles when they reached that magical preschool age. So, if you’re looking for awesome preschool Christmas projects, you’re in the right place!
We originally did this Christmas Tree Name Puzzle with my Sammy nine years ago. Nine years… NINE. YEARS. I’m sorry… allow me a moment to reminisce and wonder how he grew up so quickly?!
Whew.
The original post is below, but before you get to it, there’s something new this year! I now have a FREE Christmas Tree Name Puzzle Template to make this classic Christmas activity even simpler.
The template includes three versions—straight lines, zig-zags, and curvy lines. It also includes some extra sections that you can add to the bottom of the tree if your little one has an extra-long name (I’m looking at you, Charlotte and Christopher!). Grab yours right here:
Christmas Tree Name Puzzle
Sammy’s love of puzzles is growing and growing. I love it because puzzles have so many benefits. To take full advantage of this wonderful new interest, I am sneaking in even more learning.
We have made a few name puzzles lately, like this pumpkin name puzzle for Halloween. We love preschool Christmas projects, so I thought… why not make a Christmas name puzzle!?
A few preschool Christmas projects I brainstormed for our next name puzzles were:
- Stars: …but writing name letters in the star points is circular and quite tricky for a name puzzle
- Snowmen: This one would be cute—and we just may do it!—with a name letter in each of the snowballs
- Santa: Maybe a letter on his hat, face, beard, and so on. But this one would take quite a bit of prep, so it may not be ideal for Preschool Christmas Projects.
- Christmas Tree: PERFECT.
So, we decided to make a Christmas tree name puzzle. Here is what we did:
First, I drew a large triangle for the Christmas tree and split it into 5 parts (because Sammy has 5 letters in his name). I did zigzag lines because that was a skill I thought he could use some practice with. Curved lines or straight lines, would work just as well. Preschoolers who don’t yet have great scissor skills could even just tear the paper, practicing their pincer grip.
Next, Sammy cut out his Christmas tree name puzzle. I helped him by first cutting out the actual tree. He then just cut each zigzag line (while wearing his new winter hat, of course).
After, I wrote his name on each piece (in order) and mixed them up. He then built his name Christmas tree name puzzle! Building the name vertically was a different name recognition activity and really made him think about how his name would go.
He then glued it to a piece of white paper, leaving a little space between each puzzle piece so it looked like snow was on the Christmas tree branches.
That’s it! Well, at least that was all I intended, but glitter had been left on the table from a craft with Madeline on the weekend, so of course, we had to add some glitter too—for the Christmas lights, you see. Oh, preschoolers and their glitter.
Preschool Christmas projects are such a fun way to get wee ones excited about learning! The trick is to find activities that can be completed independently without too much trouble. These Christmas name puzzles would work quite well, as they can be easily adapted to everyone’s capabilities.
Sammy loves his Christmas tree name puzzle so much that I wish we hadn’t glued it so quickly. I think we will make another so he can play with it, building his tree again and again.
You could also use this activity to practice sight words, math facts, or even skip counting! Put some contact paper over the tree and use dry-erase markers to use the tree over and over again.
If you want even more crafts and activities like this—engaging, beautiful, and planned for you day-by-day—you’ll want to check out Play into Kindergarten Readiness! The preschool curriculum covers all core preschool skills in ONE 20-minute activity a day.
Take a peek right here:
https://shop.howweelearn.com/pages/play-into-kindergarten-readiness
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Thank you so much for reading, my friend! I hope your little one enjoys making their very own Christmas tree name puzzle.
xo
Sarah
Wow…Good work Sammy, love your tree… I couldn’t have done it better myself..
So very interesting,
OXOX
This is a great idea and one I’m sure my little boy would love to do – thank you for sharing.
Thank you for visiting – so glad you like this name puzzle!
This is so cute! I love the cutting practice too! 🙂
Yes, I am always looking for ways to add in a bit of scissor practice! Thank you for the compliment Emma!
Love this idea and easily adaptable to other seasons/holidays/themes! Thanks for sharing! Pinned!
Thank you Meredith – and thanks for pinning!
Absolutely love this learning Christmas Craft. And it would look great hung up on the mantle too! Thanks so much for sharing your idea at Mom’s Library! Pinned.
So glad you like it! Super simple. Thanks for having us over to link!
Love activities that cover many areas; fine motor, letter recognition, and sequencing letters to make their name! Can’t wait to do this with my kiddos.