Two things I love are Christmas and music. Today, I've combined them with musical bell activities and Christmas bell activities. Some of these activities can be used year-round while others are designed for Christmas.
I have a post at Living Montessori Now with free bell printables - both general bells and Christmas bells.
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.
Handbells and Musical Notes
Free Printable: Preschool Handbells: New-Sew Felt Musical Notes and Printables from Imagine Our Life For this activity, I used a Multicraft tray and set of 8 handbells.
I would just lay out the musical note cards and have the child match the bells to the cards. You could have children who are able place the notes and bells in order from lowest to highest. (Note: I use a Montessori Services rug on the floor for the layout, although you could use a long piece of felt on a table.)
Jingle Bells Song Tray
Free Printable: Jingle Bells Music Color Coded by MontessoriSoul
For this activity, I used a Multicraft tray, a small tabletop easel, and the 5 lowest bells from the handbell set.
My 3-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, and I played "Jingle Bells" together with each of us using more than one bell. We had a great time with it!
Jingle Bell Counting and Transfer Activity
Free Printable: Jingle Bell Numbers (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber)
For this activity, I used a a Montessori Services medium-size tray, sugar tong, and exact number of bells to match a number card. I purchased a set of 144 ½" gold bells to use for a number of activities. You could choose any number from 1-10, whether it's to reinforce the number symbol or concept of counting.
The sugar tong (or whatever tool you use) adds fine-motor work to the counting activity.
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| Counting and Transferring Jingle Bells |
DIY Jingle Bell Cards and Counters
Free Printable: Jingle Bell Numbers (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber)
I used a Montessori Services medium-size tray, the number cards for 1-10, and 55 of the ½" gold bells.
I like to lay out my numbers and counters in the traditional Montessori way of rows of two counters with a left-over counter centered below the bottom row. This gives a visual impression of odd and even. For more about creating DIY numbers and counters and a link on how to present the lesson, check out my DIY Cards and Counters post.
Bell Multiplication Board Activity
Free Printable: Multiplication with Bells Printable from Carol of the Bells Pack at Every Star Is Different Free Printable: Math Facts Board Multiplication from Livable Learning
For this activity, I used a Multicraft tray, 27 of the bells for multiplication facts through 9x3, a small red bell for the top of the multiplication "board", Bambu large condiment cup for the bells, small Bambu condiment cup for other pieces, and a miniature clothespin. I prepared the activity to solve one multiplication problem at a time with the materials.
I had fun preparing this activity to add interest and hands-on learning to multiplication!
To see how to use a multiplication board, check out the post at Montessori Print Shop on how to use the Montessori multiplication bead board. For this, we're just using bells instead of beads! You could even use a bath mat as suggested if you use small enough bells!
Or use the free printable I used from Livable Learning. It also has directions to help you prepare the activity.
Jingle Bell Lane Game for Short E or Long A Words
Free Printable: Jingle Bell Lane Game by JK Curriculum Connection at Teachers Pay Teachers I used a Montessori Services large plastic tray, dice, and gold and silver bells for place holders. This is simply a fun way to reinforce phonics for beginning readers.
More Free Bell Printables
Go to my post at Living Montessori Now for links to free bell printables from around the blogosphere: Free Bell Printables and Montessori-Inspired Bell 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.December Holiday Posts at Living Montessori Now + December Pinterest Boards
Pinterest Boards:
- Kids’ Winter Activities Pinterest Board
- Kids’ Christmas Activities Pinterest Board
- Kids’ Non-Christian Religious Holiday 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!
I hope you have a great time focusing on music and/or Christmas! :)
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 41 years (and lives in the city where her kids, kids-in-law, and toddler granddaughter live). She blogs at Living Montessori Now.
