Monday Made It - Name Tag - Tracing - Work Mats!

This is my first time linking up with 4th Grade Frolics - Monday Made It!  I am so excited to try a new (to me) link up!

So here we go!!
This week I made.....

These still need to be laminated. BUT - you can see the name tag on the front and the ABCs and 123s on the back!

So what is a name tag tracing mat? I got the original idea for these work mats from this post by Palma Lindsay - My 10 Best Tips for Teaching TK.  She explains a bunch of great ways to make this mixed class really successful!! (Don't know what TK is? Check out this post from my friend at A Learning Moment - What *is* TK?)

These are great for any younger kiddo - including preschool, TK, and kinder!!

So Palma wrote this about Work Mats - "Samples of their names written with a broad tip marker on on a lined name tag and glued to a piece of construction paper can be laminated and used as a personal workspace. Wiki-sticks will stick nicely to the letters and the laminated work mats keep glue from sticking to your tables. Mats can be easily washed and kept clean."

How great is that?!?!  I also love that this mat helps students learn about personal work space.  That is HUGE for the little kids!!

So I took this idea one step farther.. I decided to add a page of ABCs and a page of numbers (1-20)  with the stroke order shown to the back.  This will be great for students to practice their letter and number writing with a whiteboard marker when we have a few extra minutes!

Here's how you can create your own!

Here's what you'll need:
-Name Tags (These are from the dollar spot at Target!!)**
-Construction paper**
-Adhesive of some sort - I am OBSESSED with these tape runners from the 99cent store!
     You could also use a glue stick if you'd like..
-ABC stroke order pages (I will be uploading these in my store SOON!!)**
-123 stroke order pages (I will be uploading these in my store SOON!!)**
 **Enough for your class plus a handful extra - it's always better to make extra now rather than later when a new student comes, or when one something *bad* happens to one of the mats mid way through the year!

STEP 1 
Make a Guide
So, when I opened my name tags from Target, I had to split them all apart.  I noticed one set (2 name tags) had this awful crease in them.  When I checked through my construction paper - I noticed I had one piece of light blue.  Oh my gosh, PERFECT! You can use the same color as your construction paper if you have extra, the light blue worked perfect for doing a tutorial..

To make the guide.. 
-Fold a piece of extra construction paper in half
-Fold an extra name tag in half
-Adhere the folded name tag where you want it to the folded piece of construction paper.  I eyeballed where I wanted it.
-Now I was able to use this guide to line up my name tags to be straight without having to measure each one!

STEP 2
Adding Name Tags

-Line the guide up against the edge of the construction paper.
-Add adhesive to the side that will be touching the mat first (in the picture, this is the edge closest to my tape runner).
-Line up the non adhesive side on the name tag on your guide - this will make it straight.  You can't even see the name tag on my guide because the name tag on top is lined up perfectly.
-Press down on the edge with adhesive to "anchor" the name tag.
-I like to assembly line my projects, so I did this for EACH of my mats before moving to the next step.

STEP 3
Adhere the rest of the name tag

 -This was the name tag just sitting on top of the construction paper before I adhered the rest of it.
-I added a strip of tape down the center of the name tag (I actually ran it along the paper where I knew the name tag would cover it so I wouldn't bend the name tag).
-Add adhesive to the final edge of the name tag.
-Flatten out and secure by running your hands over the name tag.

STEP 4
Adding the Tracing Pages to the Back 

 -Unfold your guide page and on the back, add on your number tracing page and your ABC tracing page. I liked my ABCs on the left side and my numbers on the right side.
-Fold your guide back in half so one page shows up.
-This helps to show you how much of your construction paper is half.
-Add adhesive to your tracing page (I added it to all four corners).
-Holding your tracing page in the middle (where there isn't any adhesive), place your page where you want it on half of the construction paper.
-Press down the top corners and smooth out until you reach the bottom corners.
-I assembly lined this as well - I did all of my number pages before moving onto my ABCs.

STEP 5
Adding the Second Tracing Page

 -Removing the guide page, you can easily see how much space is left for the second tracing page - this makes it really easy to just place the page down!
-Add adhesive to your tracing page (I added it to all four corners).
-Holding your tracing page in the middle (where there isn't any adhesive), place your page where you want it on half of the construction paper.
-Press down the top corners and smooth out until you reach the bottom corners.
-I assembly lined this as well - I did all of my number pages before moving onto my ABCs.

Adding names - you can either add names now or wait to laminate the pages and then add names.  I will be adding names after I laminate since I do not have my list of names yet and I want to get this project as close to finished as possible before school starts.  I will just add the names with permanent marker.  I know having the kiddos trace their name with a white board marker will erase the permanent marker on top of the laminate - but I'll cross that bridge when it comes! I might just have the students use their fingers to trace their names as we get started before introducing the whiteboard markers!

**Laminate!! (I still need to do this part!!)

Wa-LAH! You're finished!! 

Leave me a comment and let me know if you followed this tutorial to make your own mats!!