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Showing posts with label Spring. Show all posts

Sunday, March 15, 2020

Montessori-Inspired Spring Activities Using Free Printables

By Deb Chitwood from Living Montessori Now

Spring is almost here! And I have lots of hands-on spring activities for you! I also have a new spring pack (newsletter subscriber freebie at LivingMontessoriNow.com )!

Free Spring Printables and Montessori-Inspired Spring Activities

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).

Montessori Shelves with Spring Themed Activities

You’ll find Montessori-inspired spring numbers, letters, and and more (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)

Go to my Free Spring Printables and Montessori-Inspired Spring Activities post at Living Montessori Now for the free printables and activity ideas you see on the shelf and collage above!

Free Montessori-Inspired Spring Pack

Montessori-Inspired Spring Pack for DIY Cards and Counters, Number or Letter Matching, Number or Letter Basket, Bead Bar Work, Hands-on Math Operations, Number or Letter Salt/Sand Writing Tray, Letter Tracing, DIY Movable Alphabet, and Creative Writing (subscriber freebie, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password – or check your inbox if you’re already a subscriber).

More Montessori-Inspired Spring Activities

For more Montessori-inspired spring activities, check out these posts with lots of activities and resources:

If you'd like ideas for calendar-based themes throughout March, see March Themed Activities for Kids.

Be sure to go to my Free Spring Printables and Montessori-Inspired Spring Activities post at Living Montessori Now for lots of free printables and activity ideas!

Happy spring! :)

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 43 years (and lives in the city where her kids, kids-in-law, and grandkids live). She blogs at Living Montessori Now.

Saturday, February 15, 2020

Montessori-Inspired Oviparous Animal Activities Using Free Printables

By Deb Chitwood from Living Montessori Now

Spring is coming! And I love studying oviparous animals (animals that lay eggs) in the spring! Today, I have lots of Montessori-inspired oviparous animal activities along with a new oviparous animal pack (subscriber freebie at LivingMontessoriNow.com )!

Montessori Shelves with Oviparous Animal Themed Activities

You’ll find Montessori-inspired oviparous animal numbers, letters, and and more (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) Go to my Free Oviparous Animal Printables and Montessori-Inspired Oviparous Animal Activities post at Living Montessori Now for the free printables and activity ideas you see on the shelf and collage above!

Free Montessori-Inspired Oviparous Animal Pack

Montessori-Inspired Oviparous Animal Pack for DIY Cards and Counters, Number or Letter Matching, Number or Letter Basket, Bead Bar Work, Hands-on Math Operations, Number or Letter Salt/Sand Writing Tray, Letter Tracing, DIY Movable Alphabet, and Creative Writing (subscriber freebie, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password – or check your inbox if you’re already a subscriber).

More Oviparous Animal Resources, Including Many Free Printables

Be sure to go to my Free Oviparous Animal Printables and Montessori-Inspired Oviparous Animal Activities post at Living Montessori Now for lots of free printables and activity ideas!

Have fun preparing for spring! :)

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. Later, she homeschooled her two children through high school. Deb is now a Montessori writer who lives in San Diego with her husband of 44 years (and lives in the city where her kids, kids-in-law, and grandkids live). She blogs at Living Montessori Now.

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Montessori-Inspired Duckling Activities Using Free Printables

By Deb Chitwood from Living Montessori Now

If you're looking for a fun spring theme, I have one today that's very popular with young children! I've put together a number of Montessori-inspired duckling activities that can be used in the classroom or at home.

At Living Montessori Now, I have a list of free duckling printables. The free printables include my latest subscriber freebie (a Montessori-inspired duckling pack). Here, I'm sharing ideas for using free duckling printables to create Montessori-inspired activities 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 some affiliate links (at no cost to you).

Montessori Shelves with Duckling-Themed Activities

Montessori Shelves with Duckling-Themed Activities

My shelves with duckling-themed activities include a free duckling culture card designed by The Montessori Company. You’ll also find Montessori-inspired duckling numbers, letters, and and more (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 always have related books available throughout a unit. On my top shelf, I have Ducks and Their Ducklings, Duckling Duckling, Just Ducks! and Duckling Days. These books are all Montessori friendly. Most of these don't have a lot of words and are perfect for young preschoolers and beginning readers. Just Ducks! is Montessori-friendly fiction with facts about ducks interspersed with the story.

I have some more duckling books in my book baskets, including the classic Caldecott Medal book Make Way for Ducklings (not a Montessori-style book, but it's an awesome book!).

I also have a fabulous yellow duck nesting doll set! My 4-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, was so excited to see the baby duck (which is super small, since there are 10 nesting ducks in this set. Zoey could do it easily, but she's in love with the tiny duckling. Of course, this set isn't designed for toddlers.

You could mix your duckling-themed activities among your shelves according to curriculum area. Or you could have a special duckling-themed area something like the one pictured. My shelves this month have a mixture of skill levels. Many of the activities can be adapted for a variety of levels. If you’re a homeschooler, just choose the activities that work for your child’s interests and ability levels. If you don’t have room for all the activities you’d like to do, simply rotate them.

Duckling Culture Card and Ducks and Their Ducklings Book

Duckling Culture Card with Ducks and Their Ducklings Book

I'm happy to share with you this sweet hand-painted duckling culture card from The Montessori Company. You can use it on your shelves to introduce a duckling or bird unit. I’m hosting the free printable as an instant download at Living Montessori Now. You can always access the free duckling culture card here.

The description says: “Ducklings are baby ducks and can often be seen following the mother duck in a line. They live in and around fresh water.”

Matching Montessori Color Box 3 Shades of Color to a Duckling Photo

Matching Montessori Color Box 3 Shades of Color to a Duckling Photo

Free Printable: mallard duckling from Pixabay

For this activity, I added some color tablets from the Montessori Color Box 3 that were some of the shades of colors found in the photo. You could just give Color Box 3 (or color box 3 printables) to the child for color matching, although adding specific color tablets is an easier activity. It still requires the child to find the exact match in the photo.

For younger children, just give the colors from Color Box 2 that are found in the photo. Even if they don't match exactly, they'll still be the same basic color. You can use printables instead of actual color tablets.

Duckling Shapes and Metal Inset Matching

Tray with Duckling Shapes and Metal Inset Matching

Free Printable: Duckling Matching Printables from Spark and Pook

I used a Multicraft tray to hold the printables along with metal insets that match the cards. The printable includes 6 of the 10 metal inset shapes. I actually have plastic insets instead of metal insets. I like them for home use because they can be stored in one basket.

Duckling Shapes and Metal Inset Matching Layout

You could have one set of duckling cards printed on white and one on yellow. I printed mine on the same color of cardstock and used a 1/4" label dot on the back. I used one color of dots for one set and another color of dots for the other set.

You could just have your child match the printable cards without metal insets, or you could make your own geometric shapes in place of the metal insets.

Letter D Object Basket with Mystery Bag and Blindfold

Letter D Object Basket with Mystery Bag and Blindfold

Free Printables: Duckling Letters for Letter D Object Basket (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)

As you can see on my shelves, I used a Montessori mystery bag and blindfold for the letter d basket. I got the basket, mystery bag, and blindfold from Montessori Services, and I used a variety of small objects that beginning with the /d/ sound.

If you’d like ideas for teaching phonics, check out my DIY Beginning Montessori Phonics post.

Duckling Salt Writing Tray with Fonts for Letter D

Duckling Salt Writing Tray with Fonts for Letter D

Free Printables: Duckling Letters for duckling writing tray (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 the salt writing tray, I used the wooden tray from the Melissa & Doug Lace and Trace Shapes. You can use whatever tray or container work best for you, though.

I simply colored salt by putting some Wilton gel food coloring in a plastic bag with the salt and shaking it until it was mixed thoroughly. It's actually the salt from my bee-themed writing tray. (I reuse many of my materials for other units.)

Duckling Movable Alphabet to Go with the Book Make Way for Ducklings

Free Printables: Duckling Movable Alphabet (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).

Movable Alphabet Spelling and Reading Words "Pond" and "Duck" to Go with Make Way for Ducklings

Notice that there are 8 mallard ducklings ... just same type and number of ducklings as in Make Way for Ducklings! I have a traditional small wooden movable alphabet, so I used that box to lay the letters out in alphabetical order. I had printed out 2 copies of the duckling movable alphabet. Then Zoey and I matched the movable alphabet letters with all the duckling movable alphabet letters.

If you don't have a traditional wooden alphabet, you can have a stack of my printable cards already in alphabetical order. Lay them out in order and then have your child match them. First I read Make Way for Ducklings to Zoey, and then we worked together to spell "pond" and "duck." Later, we turned "duck" into "duckling." This is a great literature-based activity for kids working on spelling and reading.

Five Little Ducks Finger Puppets and Book

Five Little Ducks Finger Puppets and Book

Free Printable: Five Little Ducks Printable Puppets from Picklebums

The Raffi Songs to Read are lots of fun! The Five Little Ducks book goes perfectly with the printable puppets. I just taped regular-size craft sticks to them. Like I often do, I placed everything on a Multicraft tray.

This activity works especially well at home. I sang the book while Zoey did the actions. I held the mother duck and raised it up whenever the song talked about the mother duck. Zoey took the 5 little duck puppets to another part of the room when the ducklings went away each time. At the end of each verse, Zoey put one duckling on a table. Then I said the subtraction equation - for example, 5-1=4. At the end, Zoey brought all the ducklings back. She really loved the activity!

Duckling Greater Than, Less Than Math Activity

Tray with Duckling Greater Than, Less Than Activity

Free Printable: Duckling Numbers and Greater Than, Less Than Symbols (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)

This activity uses a piece of felt for a table mat (I used the Montessori Services felt table mat) and bead bars from the decanomial box in a Multicraft tray and Bambu condiment cups (what I used here) or other small containers. (My bead bars, which I love, are from Alison’s Montessori. You can get bead bars on Amazon, although I haven’t personally used materials from those companies.) In addition to the bead bars, I used popcorn kernels to give the ducklings something to eat.

Duckling Greater Than, Less Than Activity

I used the concepts from greater than, less than alligator math to place the greater than and less than symbols. This is a fun way to reinforce both bead bar work and greater than, less than.

Duckling Dice Game for Counting or Addition

Free Printable: Duckling Dice Game from Fun-a-Day Zoey was so excited to find the Safari Ltd. good luck mini ducks on the shelf! I used 12 ducks for addition along with see-through gem stones as markers for the duck game board. I like to play the game cooperatively where the children (or adult and child) take turns adding to the same game board until it's full.

Use one dice and 6 ducklings for children who are working on counting rather than addition.

More Free Duckling Printables

Go to my post at Living Montessori Now for links to free duckling printables from around the blogosphere: Free Duckling Printables and Montessori-Inspired Duckling 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 Bird Activities and Resources

Helpful Animal Classification Posts

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!

Have a happy spring!

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 42 years (and lives in the city where her kids, kids-in-law, and 3-year-old granddaughter live). She blogs at Living Montessori Now.

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Montessori-Inspired Nest Activities Using Free Printables

By Deb Chitwood from Living Montessori Now

If you're looking for activities for a bird theme this spring, I have them for you today! I've put together a number of Montessori-inspired nest activities that can be used in the classroom or at home.

At Living Montessori Now, I have a list of free nest printables featuring real nests. The free printables include my latest subscriber freebie (a Montessori-inspired nest pack). Here, I'm sharing ideas for using free nest printables to create Montessori-inspired activities 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 some affiliate links (at no cost to you).

Montessori Shelves with Nest-Themed Activities

Montessori Shelves with Nest-Themed Activities

My shelves with nest-themed activities include a free nest culture card designed by The Montessori Company. You’ll also find Montessori-inspired nest numbers, letters, and and more (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 always have related books available throughout a unit. On my top shelf, I have Birds Make Nests, Whose Nest Is This? and A Nest Is Noisy. On the bottom shelf, I have A Nest Full of Eggs (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science). These books are all Montessori friendly. Although my activities this month all feature bird nests, I like that Whose Nest Is This? and A Nest Is Noisy include nests made by other types of animals as well.

In my book basket, I have some books that are fiction but aren't Montessori-style books, such as the fun The Best Nest.

You could mix your nest-themed activities among your shelves according to curriculum area. Or you could have a special nest-themed area something like the one pictured. My shelves this month have a mixture of skill levels. Many of the activities can be adapted for a variety of levels. If you’re a homeschooler, just choose the activities that work for your child’s interests and ability levels. If you don’t have room for all the activities you’d like to do, simply rotate them.

Nest Culture Card and Whose Nest Is This? Book

Whose Nest Is This Book with Nest Culture Card

I'm happy to share with you this lovely hand-painted robin nest culture card from The Montessori Company. You can use it on your shelves to introduce a nest or bird unit. I’m hosting the free printable as an instant download at Living Montessori Now. You can always access the free nest culture card here.

The description says: “Nests are where birds lay eggs, usually high up in tree branches. They are commonly made of sticks and twigs but are quite strong.”

Bird Nest Lacing Activity

Free Printable: N is for Nest Pack from Teaching Mama

For this activity, I just used the printable on a Multicraft tray with a shoelace tied to one end. I don't always laminate activities for preschoolers and older for home use, but I do always laminate lacing activities.

I love the Scotch Thermal Laminator, which I use whenever I want to laminate an activity. Activities for toddlers or ones that will get a lot of use are the only activities I laminate at home.

Angela from Teaching Mama cut the birds off for the lacing activity. That's probably best for toddlers, but I think most preschoolers can be taught to lace even with the birds still attached.

Nest-Themed Book, Sandpaper Letter, and Word Card

Nest-Themed Book, Sandpaper Letter, and Word Card

Free Printables: Nest Word Tracing from Birds Preschool Pack at Homeschool Creations

This is on the shelf next to A Nest is Noisy book. I use it to introduce the theme with the sandpaper letter "n." I used my small movable alphabet "n" on the nest word card. I also printed out the "nest" tracing word card that I would use with a child who's ready to trace letters.

N is for Nest Birdseed Writing Tray

Free Printables: Nest Letters for Letter N Birdseed Writing Tray (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 first saw the idea of using birdseed for a writing tray at School Time Snippets. I thought it would be fun to use a feather for the writing, but it didn't work as well as a finger. Birdseed is lots of fun to write in, but it needs a fairly thick writing tool.

For the tray, I used the wooden tray from the Melissa & Doug Lace and Trace Shapes. You can use whatever tray or container work best for you, though.

If you would like help with introducing phonetic sounds, introducing objects with sounds, or beginning phonics in general, check out my DIY Beginning Montessori Phonics with Preschoolers.

Nest and Egg Beginning Sounds or Word-Building Activity

Nest and Egg Beginning Sounds or Word Building Activity

Free Printable: Rob the Nest Alphabet Edition from Ms K's Kreations at Teachers Pay Teachers

This was super easy to prepare. I just printed and cut out the materials and put them on a Multicraft tray. There are directions in the printable for playing "Rob the Nest Alphabet Edition." It uses both uppercase and lowercase cards, though.

I like cooperative games, and I just wanted to use lowercase letters. So I made up my own games.

For younger children, you could take turns drawing letter cards and saying their letter sounds before placing them in the nest. You don't have to include all the letters on the tray. Adapt it for your own child or classroom. When you've placed all the eggs in the nest, everyone wins. Repeat as long as the child or children are interested.

For older children, you could have a word-building activity where you take turns drawing a letter. Whenever you have enough letters to spell a word, you could work together to form and read the word.

Place used letters in the nest except any vowels. You can use those for more words. I like to allow nonsensical words as well as real words. The important part is spelling and reading!

Oval Inset for Egg-Themed Work

I have plastic insets instead of metal insets. I like them for home use because they can be stored in one basket, but either metal or plastic insets are fine. The inset could be traced before the child creates a design on the egg. Eggs can be added to a nest like the one above if desired. It's just nice to focus on the oval as an egg shape during the nest theme.

Counting to 20 to Get Mama Bird to the Nest

Counting to 20 to Get Mama Bird to the Nest

Free Printable: Follow the Path Mama Bird from 1-20 Mama Bird from Education.com

I used a Multicraft tray, glass gems stored in a Bambu condiment cup, and sugar tong for a fine-motor activity. A younger child could place the glass gems on the the path as far as he or she is able to count, and you could place the rest. A child who's working on numbers to 20 could put them on the page using the sugar tong before counting each of the numbers.

Robin's Nest Addition with Montessori Bead Bars

Robin's Nest Addition with Montessori Bead Bars

Free Printable: Robin's Nest Addition from Make Take Teach at Teachers Pay Teachers

This activity uses a piece of felt for a table mat (I used the Montessori Services felt table mat) and bead bars from the decanomial box in a Multicraft tray and Bambu condiment cups (what I used here) or other small containers. (My bead bars, which I love, are from Alison’s Montessori. You can get bead bars on Amazon, although I haven’t personally used materials from those companies.)

The printable has addition facts for 5-12, although you could just use the nests for 2 or 3 numbers. I used 5, 6, and 7 here. I have the bead bars for each set of numbers. There are two 3 bars for 3+3=6. I would first lay out the nests in order. Then just have the child choose an egg and find the answer using bead bars. Place the eggs on the appropriate nests.

Nest and Egg Addition and Subtraction Activity

Nest and Egg Addition and Subtraction Activity

Free Printable: Nest Numbers 1-12 (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 Montessori Services basket, 12 miniature eggs, and 2 dice. The nests in the Montessori-inspired nest pack are identified on the credits page. From the credits page you'll see that each number card has a photo of an empty Carolina wren nest. The eggs aren't high-quality eggs, but I like that they look a bit like Carolina wren eggs. My 4-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, loves them. I chose dice with numerals for this activity, although you could use whichever type you prefer.

Putting together (Adding) 5 Eggs and 2 Eggs

First, Zoey laid out the number cards in order. Then she rolled both dice. In the photo, she has a 5 and a 2. She counted out the eggs for each number and then put them together to add them.

Completing the Subtraction Problem 7 Eggs Minus 2 Eggs Equals 5 Egg

After that, Zoey rolled one of the dice to see how many eggs to take away. She thought it was fun to pretend that 2 eggs hatched and the birds flew away. She placed those eggs in a basket behind her. Then she counted the eggs that were left and made the final subtraction equation.

You could adapt this for a variety of skill levels, depending on whether the child is working on counting or hands-on addition and subtraction.

More Free Nest Printables

Go to my post at Living Montessori Now for links to free nest printables from around the blogosphere: Free Nest Printables and Montessori-Inspired Nest 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 Bird Activities and Resources

Helpful Animal Classification Posts

Spring will be here soon!

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 42 years (and lives in the city where her kids, kids-in-law, and 3-year-old granddaughter live). She blogs at Living Montessori Now.

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Sunday, March 15, 2020

Montessori-Inspired Spring Activities Using Free Printables

Montessori Shelves with Spring Themed Activities

Free Montessori-Inspired Spring Pack

More Montessori-Inspired Spring Activities

Saturday, February 15, 2020

Montessori-Inspired Oviparous Animal Activities Using Free Printables

Montessori Shelves with Oviparous Animal Themed Activities

Free Montessori-Inspired Oviparous Animal Pack

More Oviparous Animal Resources, Including Many Free Printables

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Montessori-Inspired Duckling Activities Using Free Printables

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Montessori-Inspired Nest Activities Using Free Printables

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