Student Name Tags
Invite students to create a name tag to share about their hobbies, interests, and dreams.
Ages 5-7 / 30
min Activity
Objectives
- Design a personalized name tag to represent their unique identity, and share their artwork with each other
- Use their name tags as an opportunity to spark conversations and form connections with their peers
Supporting Research
When educators cultivate a positive and inclusive classroom environment, in which all students feel a sense of belonging and appreciation, this leads to positive outcomes around their academic success, motivation, self-efficacy, and engagement. This activity supports students’ self-awareness as they reflect on and share about their own identity, kindness as they listen to their peers’ stories, and inclusivity as they recognize and appreciate their similarities and differences.
To learn more about these skills, and how they promote students’ healthy growth and the development of empathy, please check out our Empathy Framework.
Materials
- "Name Tag" template
- Art materials (e.g., pens, markers, crayons, and pencils)
Activity Partners
No items found.
Instructions
- Introduce the activity to students by explaining: “Today, we're going to create our own name tags. This special name tag will help others learn about you, like what makes you feel happy or excited. Each day, we’ll add something new to our name tags, and at the end, we’ll see all the cool artwork that everyone created!”
- Provide each student with a copy of this name tag template, then guide them through the following steps:
• Write their name on the two large dotted lines where it says “name”. Careful, students will need to turn their paper upside down for the line at the top of the page!
• Fold the paper along the small dotted lines to create a name tag tent.
Consider creating your own name tag so students can learn about you too!
- Over the next 3-4 days, set aside 5-10 minutes for students to decorate both sides of their name tags. Each day, students can add small symbols or drawings that represent their:
• Hobbies and interests (e.g., activities that they enjoy outside of school)
• Favorite color, animal, or food
• Family members, friends, or pets
• Dreams or goals for the future
• Cultural or ethnic background
- On the last day, invite students to share their name tags with the rest of the class. Students can take turns talking about some of the things that they included, and describing why these aspects of their identity are important to them.
Emphasize the importance of listening carefully and attentively to each other, and showing kindness and excitement for each person’s artwork.
- During the rest of the school year, have students display their name tags on their desk or table. Use the information from students’ name tags to pair up students who share similar hobbies or interests, or to create opportunities for students to learn about something new from another person.
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