Name Acronym Fun (AKA NAF)

Participants create name acronyms for their name, a family member’s name, a friend’s name, a TV/movie/book character’s name, a historical figure’s name, a musician/actor’s name, an animal and so on.

Materials

Paper
Pens/Pencils
Crayons/Pencil Crayons
Scissors (optional)

Framing

Explain what an acronym is and give participants examples. An acronym is an abbreviated form of a phrase or word using the initial letters. Examples are: FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions), ASAP (As Soon As Possible), ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival), P.S. (Postscript). There are also many popular acronyms used in social media: BRB (Be Right Back), TTYL (Talk To You Later), LOL (Laugh Out Loud) and so on. Participants are going to create a name acronym.

Instructions

Give each participant at least one piece of paper and a pen or pencil.
The leader can allow participants to select what name they want to use to create their acronym, or the leader will give participants a theme they have to follow. Themes could include:
Family member’s name, animal, historical figure, musician, actor, their own name (and last name), friend’s name, TV/movie/book character’s name and so on.
If participants are learning about a particular individual or individuals, use this as an activity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Participants will select a name and then write down an adjective, adverb, verb, noun, or a short phrase that describes the individual, using each letter of the name. Encourage participants to use dictionaries and thesauruses.
Participants write the name vertically down a piece of paper. Allow participants to draw pictures as well and to be creative with their letters and words. Example of a name acronym (Simba from Lion King):
S-on
I-nnocent
M-ane
B-rave
A-mazing King

Modify

Could do an acronym based on a location or thing, such as Canada (or another country), type of food, a game, a holiday, a sport and so on.
The leader will select a name for a group of participants, and each participant has one letter. They will cut out their section of the name and put them together on a big piece of paper.