I'm very excited today! I get to share some fun hands-on frog math activities for Leap Year ... and for spring or summer in any year! And I get to share my first exclusive subscriber freebie at Living Montessori Now!
You'll find LOTS of free frog printables in my Free Frog Printables and Montessori-Inspired Frog Math Activities. Here, I'm sharing some Montessori-inspired frog activities using free printables for preschoolers through first graders.
You'll find many activities for preschoolers through first graders throughout the year along with presentation ideas in my previous posts at PreK + K Sharing. You'll also find ideas for using free printables to create activity trays here: How to Use Printables to Create Montessori-Inspired Activities.
At Living Montessori Now, I have a post with resource links of Free Printables for Montessori Homeschools and Preschools.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you.
Five Green and Speckled Frogs Activity
Free Printable: Five Green and Speckled Frogs from Making Learning Fun
This activity was very simple to prepare and incorporated music ... a favorite subject for both my 2-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, and me. I just printed out and laminated the page from Making Learning Fun. Then I cut out the green frogs and placed them on an antique dish (can be any small container) on a Multicraft tray (which comes in a set of 5 nesting trays that can be used for numerous activities). I like to use special dishes and other containers (like the antique dish) from time to time to make the work seem extra special and to teach children to care for their materials.
I had Zoey use the activity first as a number matching activity. She matched up each of the green frogs to a dotted frog. Then, as we sang the song she moved each green frog to the "pool." Such a simple but fun activity! (We used a Montessori Services rug for the activity.)
Frog and Flies Number Basket
Free Printable: Frog Numbers for Number Basket or Cards and Counters (my subscriber freebie, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password)
This is another activity that was super easy to prepare. You just need to print, laminate, and cut out the printables. I simply chose a number to feature (there are 0-10 in the number frog printable) and added the number to a basket along with the corresponding number of flies. I love the package of 100 flies I found on Amazon! They arrive quickly, look very realistic (causing lots of double takes around the house when one gets loose!), and can be used for so many different activities!
While I would use the printable and flies to make a set of DIY cards and counters for an older child, for a 2 year old I recommend making a number basket with just one frog number and the corresponding number of flies for your child to count.
Frogs and Flies Cards and Counters
Free Printable: Frog Numbers for Number Basket or Cards and Counters (my subscriber freebie, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password)
This activity required a set of 1-10 frog cards and exactly 55 flies. I love making DIY themed cards and counters to introduce odd and even and add interest and variety to cards and counters.
Frogs and Flies More, Less, and Altogether Activity
Free Printable: Frogs and Flies: Quantity Concepts More, Less, Altogether by Speech Sprouts at Teachers Pay Teachers
Free Printable for separate numbers: Dinosaur Kindergarten Pack (numbers from dinosaur hundred chart) at Royal Baloo
This activity can be used with playdough, although I used the same set of flies. I added a sugar tong from Montessori Services for fine-motor work. A toast tong or tweezers would work well, too. Even a young child could do this work to have a hands-on understanding of more and less along with a hands-on introduction to addition.
Frog Skip Counting Floor Numbers
Free Printable: Skip Counting Floor Numbers (skip counting by 2s – 12s available) from 3 Dinosaurs
You can't get much easier preparation than this. I just printed out the frog numbers. You can laminate them or not depending on how much you plan to use them. I simply placed the frog numbers on a large plastic tray from Montessori Services. You'll find some fun ideas for using them in the post at 3 Dinosaurs.
Frog Addition with Regrouping
Free Printable: Froggy Addition with Regrouping by ThirdGradeSparkle at Teachers Pay Teachers
This is an activity for advanced preschoolers or kindergarteners or for first graders. It's for children who've had experience with the Montessori golden bead materials, including addition with regrouping. This activity would be a fun extension to that.
I used Alison's Montessori golden beads for this work. They're fabulous! You can read about them in my review at Living Montessori Now.
More Free Frog Printables
Go to my post at Living Montessori Now for links to free frog printables from around the blogosphere: Free Frog Printables and Montessori-Inspired Frog Math Activities. And be sure to subscribe to my email list if you'd like to get an exclusive free printable each month (plus two more awesome freebies right away): Free Printables.
More Montessori-Inspired Frog Activities
You’ll find many more Montessori-inspired frog activities at Living Montessori Now and on Pinterest: Montessori-Inspired Frog Activities for Leap Year or Anytime, Montessori Frog Life Cycle Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers, Kids’ Frog and Leap Year Activities Pinterest Board
If you'd like to focus on manners with children, please check out my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to Teach Grace and Courtesy! It's written for anyone who'd like to feel comfortable teaching manners to children ages 2-12. I'm also one of the coauthors of the book Learn with Play – 150+ Activities for Year-round Fun & Learning!
Happy Leap Year! :)
Deb Chitwood is a certified Montessori teacher with a master’s degree in Early Childhood Studies from Sheffield Hallam University in Sheffield, England. Deb taught in Montessori schools in Iowa and Arizona before becoming owner/director/teacher of her own Montessori school in South Dakota. Later, she homeschooled her two children through high school. Deb is now a Montessori writer who lives in San Diego with her husband of 40 years (and lives in the city where her kids, kids-in-law, and toddler granddaughter live). She blogs at Living Montessori Now.
No comments:
Post a Comment
We would love to hear from you! Please feel free to leave a comment below....