Montessori-Inspired Alligator Unit Using Free Printables

By Deb Chitwood from Living Montessori Now 

Alligators are fun to study ... and the greater than, less than alligator activities are some of my favorites! They're so helpful for children who have difficulty remembering how to place the greater than and less than symbols. 

At Living Montessori Now, I have a list of free alligator printables, including lots of greater than, less than alligator printables. The free printables include my latest subscriber freebie (a Montessori-inspired alligator pack, which has some special greater than/less than alligator photo symbols). 

Here, I'm sharing ideas for using free alligator printables to create Montessori-inspired 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 Alligator-Themed Activities

 

My shelves with alligator-themed activities include a free alligator culture card designed by The Montessori Company. You’ll also find Montessori-inspired alligator numbers, letters, spinners, and greater than/less than alligator 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).  

I have a number of alligator books, both non-fiction and fiction, for our alligator unit. We always enjoy the National Geographic Readers, such as this month's Alligators and Crocodiles. I love the variety of visual facts about alligators in Who Lives in an Alligator Hole? by Anne Rockwell and Alligators and Crocodiles by Gail Gibbons. 

Free Printable: Stomping Grounds of the American Alligator from Tim Van De Vall. I added this printable to our shelf along with our Hugg-a-Planet Earth to reinforce the books' information about where alligators live. 

You could mix your alligator-themed activities among your shelves according to curriculum area. Or you could have a special alligator area something like the one pictured. My shelves this month have a mixture of skill 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, just rotate them. 

Alligator Culture Card (on Shelf with Alligator Books)

 

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

The description says: “Alligators are reptiles that live in the marshes of North America and China. They silently stalk prey in the water or bask in the sun during the day.” 

Lady with the Alligator Purse Book and Literature-Based Activity

 

Free Printable: Lady with the Alligator Purse Song-Themed Printable and Activity from Mumma Diaries This isn't on my shelves yet. First, I'm featuring the non-fiction alligator books. This is one of the activities I'll be rotating onto my shelves during the month. 

The Lady with the Alligator Purse is just a silly and fun book! I'm planning to use the cards as a sequencing activity while my 3½-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, and I sing the song. 

A is for Alligator Basket and Salt Writing Tray


 

Free Printables: Alligator Letters for A is for Alligator Basket and Salt 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) 

Free Printable: Alligator Clothespin Puppet/Fine-Motor Activity from Delia Creates 

Free Printable: A is for Alligator by The Educators Spin On It at Teacher's Notebook  

Isn't the clothespin alligator adorable?!! With the printable, it was easy to prepare, too! I got the basket from Montessori Services. I used small objects that begin with the /ă/ sound and go with the chant on the card. I didn't want to use "airplane," so I changed the word to "ambulance" and used a Micro Machine ambulance. 

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

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. I wanted it to be blue for water. 

Reptiles Singular and Plural Free Printable: Reptiles and Amphibians Singular and Plural Cards from Every Star Is Different 

For this activity, I used a Montessori Services basket and Safari Ltd. reptiles (from a variety of TOOBs). 

This is a fun, hands-on way to introduce reptiles to young children.

I used a Montessori Services rug on the floor for the layout.  This is just one way you can use the cards. For younger preschoolers, you can place the Safari Ltd. figures on the rug and then have the child find the matching card for each figure. After that, you could say, "Can you find more alligators?" and so on.  

With children who read, you can use this as a reading lesson in singular and plural. Of course, you can cut the cards apart to make Montessori 3-part cards.

Montessori-Inspired Alligator Booklet Free Printable: All About Alligators Printables from Welcome to Mommyhood 


This was so easy to prepare! I just printed and laminated the pages, punched a hole in each page, and added a binder ring. There are a number of free alligator printables at Welcome to Mommyhood. 

I chose to make a homemade booklet because Zoey loves those.This one has lots of information along with interesting alligator photos. 

Counting Alligators Game

Free Printable: Alligator Numbers and Alligator Spinner (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  Multicraft tray and a Bambu condiment cup to hold 10 Safari Ltd. Good Luck Mini alligators. (Yes, the are only 9 in the cup, but that's because one had wandered off before I took the photo. I didn't realize it until after my photo shoot was finished. There are now 10 in the cup ready for the activity!) 

Note: You can get the Good Luck Mini alligators on Amazon, although you'll find the best price at Alison's Montessori. 

Alligator Addition Game For this activity, I used a  Multicraft tray and a Bambu condiment cup to hold 10 Safari Ltd. Good Luck Mini alligators. The alligator arrow is simply taped onto the paper brad/paper-clip spinner.

Again, you can get the Good Luck Mini alligators on Amazon, although you'll find the best price at Alison's Montessori. 

Working with Hands-on Alligator Addition

This is a simple way to introduce addition. With hands-on objects, it's a great way to add interest to counting activities for preschoolers who are comfortable with other counting activities.

Greater Than, Less Than Alligator Math with Alligator Photo Symbols and Greater Than Gator Chant 

This activity is on my shelf, but I'll be introducing in my post at Living Montessori Now on Tuesday! 

Alligator Writing or Dictation Tray  

Free Printables: Alligator Writing or Dictation Pages (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 is always so easy to prepare! I used a Multicraft tray, the printables, a pencil, and a pencil sharpener for an added practical life activity. Advanced preschoolers on up can write their own story, while younger preschoolers can dictate a story for you to write. They could use either printable: "What do you know about alligators?" or "Tell about your about your experiences with alligators, or tell an alligator story." 

More Free Alligator Printables 

Go to my post at Living Montessori Now for links to free alligator printables from around the blogosphere: Montessori-Inspired Alligator Unit with Free Printables and 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.

See my previous alligator posts at PreK + K Sharing here: 

• Montessori-Inspired Greater Than Less Than Alligator Math Activities
• Montessori-Inspired Alligator Activities Using Free Printables

Helpful Animal Classification Posts

• Living and Non-Living
• Plant and Animal Sorting
• Montessori Animal Classification
• Free Zoo Printables and Montessori-Inspired Zoo Activities
• Montessori-Inspired Animal Units

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 back-to-school planning!

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.

Making Themes Come to Life!

In early childhood we are blessed with the opportunity to spend a lot of time teaching theme units.  With careful planning we incorporate the themes in every aspect of the classroom!  During the summer I go over the common core standards and then plan my themes for the year.  I also use an emergent curriculum and if the children are particularly interested in a unit then we will spend more time on it.  When planning my themes I include activities for math, science, language, reading, practical life, art, music, gross motor and if possible field trips.  By the end of a unit the kids have an incredible understanding of all that was taught. 

Children learn best through hands on exploration and discovery.  You can tell them about something and even show them pictures but until they see it in real life they won’t ever have a full understanding and interest in the subject being taught.  One way I like to make themes come to life is by inviting special guests come in to speak and bring examples of what we are learning about.  Click here to see a post about a special DNA presentation we had.

My favorite way to make themes come to life is through field trips.  When we finish a unit I try to plan a field trip based on the theme.  This week we just finished our pond unit.  Here is a link to my pond unit. 

To celebrate this we had a field trip to the pond, the feed store and the pet store.  We started at the pond to see these animals in their real life habitat.  We explored ducks, geese, swans and even a beaver!  The kids got to use their senses of smell, sight, sound and touch to experience what a pond was really like.  They were fascinated and they pointed out skills they learned in the classroom such as the beaver dam, the webbed feet on the ducks, the ducks bobbing for food, the reeds next to the pond, the honking geese and the murky pond water! 

After we went to the pond we traveled to the feed store to touch and hold ducklings!  We were able to discuss why the ducklings had lamps in their cages, the differences between chicks and ducklings, what they felt like, what they were eating and what a baby turkey was called. 

 Finally we made a trip to the pet store.  At the pet store we observed the turtles and frogs.  The kids were fascinated with the swimming turtles and the frogs huddled in the corner near the heat lamp. 

We learned a lot from our pond unit but no amount of classroom time could compare to the amount of learning we received from making our theme come to life! 

 

Rachel Supalla is the mother of 4 kids ages 3-9.  She has taught preschool and Kindergarten for 15 years.  Rachel is a Montessori certified teacher and director.  She owns Discovery Kidzone Montessori Adventures where she blogs about teaching in a Montessori school and homeschooling.  Rachel homeschools her daughter who has ADHD. Rachel is also the owner of Discovery Kidzone Montessori School.You can contact Rachel on facebook at Kidzone Teacher Mama and you can find her pinning on pinterest here!