Teachers require name tags for students (and parent helpers) for all sorts of reasons: first days of school, field trips, substitute days, jog-a-thons, assemblies, etc. I initially used up many laminated paper versions that tore easily, and I didn’t want to use lanyards that got in the way of kids playing. For my kindergarten team, name tags made of inexpensive craft foam sheets were the answer. They are only pennies to make and reusable — saving both money and time!

At my school, we have a kindergarten orientation the day before the first day of school. The beginning of orientation is in the auditorium with all incoming kindergartners and parents. This is when students find out their new teacher and classroom. We display name tags on tables. Parents help children find (and pin on) their name tags. While families accomplish this, we teachers go to our classrooms and prepare to meet our new families! The great part is, we can look in the eyes of our new little friends and call them by name — instantly making them feel a sense of belonging. I love this part! At orientation, parents are asked to send kids to school the next day with their name tag already pinned on. This allows me to relax and properly welcome my new students on their first day of school!

When our kindergarten program was staggered, we used one color (of craft foam) for students arriving in the morning (Early Birds) and another color for students arriving later in the day (Late Birds). In addition, our three kindergarten teachers used completely different colors so that we could easily see with whom each student belonged. This was particularly important during the first days of school when there were 90+ names to learn! The added bonus… we didn’t have to shout Hey You! on the playground to capture a student’s attention. Our kindergarten program is changing to all-day, so we may not need two colors of tags per classroom in the future.

Craft foam sheets are available in a variety of colors and are roughly 50-70 cents (at time of writing) per sheet. You can measure, mark with a pencil, and easily cut foam sheets with scissors. But, to save time, I recommend using a bypass paper cutter so that you can measure as you go — no need to measure and mark anything!

YOU WILL NEED:

• craft foam sheets (typically 9″ x 12″ and about 1/8″ thick), 1 sheet makes 8 tags
• black, bullet-tip permanent marker (such as a Sharpie)
• bypass paper cutter (or scissors, pencil, and ruler)
• 2″ safety pins

MEASUREMENTS:

Use the following illustration to help you cut each craft foam sheet into 8 (4.5″ x 3″) student name tags. There is room at the top for the safety pin and classroom number! I hope this information helps you save time and energy in your classroom. 🙂