Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Language Activities Using Free Printables

By Deb Chitwood from Living Montessori Now 

Dinosaurs are such a fun, high-interest topic that I just had to take a break from all the holiday activities to focus on dinosaurs. I'm sharing ideas for free dinosaur printables and Montessori-inspired dinosaur language activities. 

I've had posts here before with other dinosaur activities. But these are new, different, and focusing on hands-on dinosaur language activities. My post at Living Montessori Now has a long list of free dinosaur printables. 

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. 

Letter D Object Basket and Writing Tray

Free Printables: Dinosaur Letters for Letter D Object Basket and 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 letter d basket, I used a basket with small objects beginning with the /d/ sound. I like introducing the cursive letter along with the manuscript one, so I included the cursive d card. I used a variety of objects starting with /d/. You could just say the phonetic sound as you or your child removes an item from the basket: for example, "/d/ dog, /d/ doll..." Some of the objects are ones I had at home (such as Safari Ltd. TOOB objects and a miniature wooden doll I had), although many are from Montessori Services (they have individual phonetic objects or a whole set available). 

For the letter d sand 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. For the sand, I sterilized sand from outdoors by baking it for 30 minutes at 200F. You can also buy sand on Amazon. 

Dinosaur Letter Tile Cards (Beginning Sounds) 

 

Free Printable: Dinosaur Letter Tile Cards (Beginning Sounds) by Karen Cox from PreKinders at TeachersPayTeachers. There are 3 levels to this printable, so it's very versatile. I'm showing the middle version with the missing initial sound.  
Free Printable: Montessori Movable Alphabet (1 Inch Letter Tiles). You could purchase letter tiles if you prefer rather than printing them out. For this activity, I used a Multicraft tray and small Bambu condiment cup to hold the letters.
    

For our floor work, we always use a Montessori Services hemmed work rug.

Dinosaur Syllables 

 

Free Printable: Dinos TOOB Key by Safari Ltd., hosted at Living Montessori Now. I just printed it out and cut it apart, using the 8 dinosaurs that were in both the Dinos TOOB and dinosaur syllable cards.  

Free Printable: Dinosaur Syllables from Dinosaur Unit Language Printable Pack 1 by Renae at Every Star Is Different 

For this activity, I used a Multicraft tray, Safari Ltd. Dinos TOOB (the ones that matched the printable cards), Montessori Services basket to hold the dinosaurs, dinosaur syllable cards, Bambu large condiment cup, small Bambu condiment cup, and miniature clothespins. You could use glass gems like Renae did at Every Star Is Different. I just used the miniature clothespins because my almost-3-year-old granddaughter has been especially excited about them lately.

You could place a small control dot on the back of the card where the clothespin should go for a control of error (instant self-check).



Dinosaur Sight Words (Puzzle Words) with Clothespin Letters

 

Free Printable: Sight Word Dinosaurs from Classy Kinders by Jamie Aguilar at Teachers Pay Teachers 

For this activity, I used a Multicraft tray containing a Montessori Services basket with clothespins with the letters for the puzzle words written on them with a permanent marker.   
      

When I first teach puzzle words, such as "the," I say something like: "/t/, /h/, and /ĕ/ together say the word 'the.'  You can't sound out 'the.' You just have to remember it." 

Dinosaur CVC Word Families 

 

Free Printable: Dinosaur CVC Word Mats from Royal Baloo 

This activity was super simple to prepare. It just used a small Montessori Services basket and Multicraft tray to hold everything.



There are a number of word families in the printable pack. I would generally put out one word family (such as the "at" family), letting the child make and read each of the words before putting out another word family. 

Dinosaur Bones Punctuation Game 

Free Printable: Dinosaur Bones Punctuation Game from 123 Homeschool 4 Me 

For this activity, I used a Multicraft tray and small Bambu condiment cup to hold the markers (for up to 4 players). 

think this would make a nice cooperative game if everyone took turns moving the same piece. Of course, it works well as a traditional game, too. This is a fun way to reinforce punctuation skills. 

More Free Dinosaur Printables 

Go to my post at Living Montessori Now for links to free dinosaur printables from around the blogosphere: Free Dinosaur Printables and Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Language 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 Dinosaur Posts and Resources: 

Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Unit, Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Fun with Printables, Water Beads, and Glass Gems, Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Activities Using Dinosaur Replicas, Make Fossils from Montessori at Home!, Free Dinosaur Printables and Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Math Activities, Literature-Based Dinosaur Activities for Preschoolers, Dinosaur Ice Melt Science Experiment for Toddlers and Preschoolers, Dinosaur Unit Study Pinterest Board

Helpful Post with Animal Classification 

Montessori Animal Classification

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 found some ideas for your classroom or home. :)

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.

Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Math Activities Using Free Printables

By Deb Chitwood from Living Montessori Now  

Dinosaur activities are always fun for dinosaur lovers. And a dinosaur theme is one of my favorite summer units (especially fun this summer with the opening of Jurassic World)!

I shared a list of free dinosaur printables in my post today at Living Montessori Now. Here, I'm sharing some Montessori-inspired dinosaur math 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. 

Count the Dinosaurs Free Printable: Count the Dinosaurs from Dinosaur Pack (part 2) from 3 Dinosaurs. I also used the numbers from the same printable. For older children, there are Greater Than/Less Than, Add the Dinosaurs, and Subtract the Dinosaurs printables in the same printable pack. You could have more than one printable on the tray to accommodate different ages and ability levels. 

Free Printable: Safari Ltd. Dino Babies TOOB Key hosted at Living Montessori Now 

This activity uses a large plastic tray from Montessori Services and a smaller Montessori Services clear acrylic tray for 10 dinosaurs from the Safari Ltd. Dinos TOOB 

For the layout, I used a Montessori Services rug. I used the Safari Ltd. TOOB key as a separate matching activity for children and as a way for you to identify each of the dinosaurs on the tray. 



Palentologist Skip Counting Puzzles 

 

Free Printable: Palentologist Puzzles from Dinosaur Update (Dinosaur Pack part 4) from 3 Dinosaurs 

I simply printed out, laminated, and cut out the puzzle pieces. I like that there's a male paleontologist and a female paleontologist. They look the same except for their hair. 

Each puzzle has skip counting by 2's to 20. To make it more challenging, you could put both puzzles in the same container. I used a Really Useful Pencil Box. 




I love activity bags for trips and waiting rooms, so I also put together a paleontologist skip counting puzzles activity bag. This sort of activity would be easy to prepare with any printable puzzle. I used a zippered pencil pouch for the bag. 

   
Dinosaur Number Mazes



Free Printable: Dinosaur Roar PreK-K Pages from Homeschool Encouragement   

This was super simple to prepare. I used two dinosaurs from the Safari Ltd. Dinos TOOB. The child simply flies the pterodactyl through the maze or walks the dinosaur through the maze. 

There are two mazes ... one with numbers from 1-10 and one with skip counting by 10's to 100. 

Dinosaur Number Line Addition and Subtraction/Hatching Dinosaurs



Free Printable: Dinosaur Number Line Addition and Subtraction Within 10 by The Teaching Treehouse at Teachers Pay Teachers 

Free Printable: Safari Ltd. Dino Babies TOOB Key hosted at Living Montessori Now 

For this activity, I used the 10 dino babies from the Safari Ltd. Dino Babies TOOB. You could use regular dinosaurs rather than dino babies, but I think the dino babies are a cute touch. 

The tray is a Multicraft tray, and the small basket is a Montessori Services basket. Montessori Services carries baskets in sizes that are often difficult to find. You could have an erasable marker for children to write the answers on the number line card, although it would be fine for the child to simply find the correct answer on the number line. 

The answer could be checked by adding or subtracting the eggs with the dinosaur babies. I placed the dinosaurs in jumbo plastic Easter eggs. (Note: You'll find a fun subtraction activity using "dinosaur eggs" at Every Star Is Different.)

If you have younger children, you could use dinosaur count and clip cards or dinosaur number cards to match to the correct number of eggs. The child could place the numbers upside down and draw the number to match with the correct number of "dinosaur eggs." 

Again, the Safari Ltd. TOOB key is for the child to match the dinosaurs at the end and to make it easier for you to identify each of the dinosaur babies. 



Measuring Dinosaurs



Free Printable: Dinosaur Unit Science and Culture Printable Pack from Every Star Is Different 

Every Star is Different has an amazing number of free dinosaur cards. I printed out and cut out some of the dinosaurs found in the Safari Ltd. Dino TOOB. Then I glued the dinosaur image on one side with the skeleton and dinosaur length on the other side. 

I used a simple bamboo paper plate holder to hold the cards and a tape measure. This activity would be fun for two children or a group of children (or one child and parent or teacher). This would definitely be a good activity to take outdoors!

Here's the link to my favorite laminator ... inexpensive and great for almost any activity that needs to be laminated!

More Free Dinosaur Printables and Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Activities

Go to my post at Living Montessori Now for links to dinosaur freebies from around the blogosphere: Free Dinosaur Printables and Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Math Activities.

You'll find lots of Montessori-inspired dinosaur activities and ideas in these Living Montessori Now posts:



Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Unit

 

Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Fun with Printables, Water Beads, and Glass Gems

 
Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Activities Using Dinosaur Replicas

 

Make Fossils from Montessori at Home! 

Dinosaur Unit Study 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.

Happy summer!

 

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.

Dinosaurs are Dino-mite!

Hi! I'm Ayn and I am a Ga. Pre-K teacher, serving 4 and 5 year olds in an inclusive setting. I share my classroom adventures on my blog, little illuminations.

My pre-k students are really interested in dinosaurs this year. We recently completed our cross-curricular dinosaur unit. Today I'm sharing some of the fun ways we learned about dinosaurs. 

Literacy
We love to read and we read tons of great informational books about dinosaurs. Some of our favorites were:

We also love rhyming books and we really enjoyed these books as well! 

Music and Movement
My friends over at The Seeds Network have created a fabulous series called "Book and Boogie" and we used their dinosaur movement activities to get our bodies moving. We also took turns moving like we thought dinosaurs might move. 

Art
There was a lot of dinosaur related subject matter in the children's drawings and paintings. I also provided some plastic dinosaurs and some extra large stamp pads for the kids to make dinosaur footprints.

Science
We talked about the words: carnivore, herbivore and omnivore and talked about which dinosaurs may have eaten each type of food and the physical characteristics of those dinosaurs. Plant eaters had flat teeth, meat eaters hat sharp, pointed teeth. We played a couple of games where I they stood up and acted like the dinosaur that might eat each type of food I held up. I also gave each one a piece of plastic food and when I help up a dinosaur that might eat them, they stood up.

We also used playdough and small dinosaur figures to make fossils. 

Math and Measurement 
We learned quite a bit about the sizes of various dinosaurs. Trying to impress upon young children the dimensions of some of the larger dinosaurs is difficult. The numbers are abstract to them, so we actually measured down a long hallway to see how long a Diplodicus (90 feet long) actually was.

The Apatasaur had a footprint that measured 24" x 48". We drew out a dinosaur footprint of that size then took turns seeing who could fit inside the footprint.

Social Studies
We learned about archaeologists and paleontologists and how they make their discoveries.  I set up a miniature "excavation station" where students could dig out dino skeletons.

Geography
We talked a lot about what the geography of the earth might have been like long ago and talked about some of the things that might have shaped the geography. Volcanoes and dinosaurs just seem to go hand in hand , so we mixed vinegar and baking soda to explode a miniature volcano.

We also read a few books about volcanoes.

Sensory Discoveries
Our sensory table was transformed into a dinosaur habitat. The kids really enjoyed playing with the dinosaurs in rocks, sand and water.

Outdoor Play
Dinosaur toys are pretty durable, so we took a basketful outside to the sand box.

One of the things we learned is that there were some winged reptiles that were present around the same time called pterosaurs. We decorated paper planes to look like pterosaurs and took them outside to let them fly.

Dinosaur Hunt
One of the kids brought this large walking, moving and roaring dinosaur for us to play with. We went on a dinosaur hunt through the school and took turns riding him!

Our dinosaur unit was fun-filled and jam packed with learning activities, and I'm proud to say that the children learned so much. The more they learned, the more they seemed to want to know. I was so proud this week when I heard some of the kids on the playground planning play strategies. "Let's play dinosaurs. You be herbivores and we'll be carnivores. We'll try to find you and chase you!" All in all, I'd say we had a dino-mite time learning about these fascinating creatures!



Stop by and visit me anytime at littleilluminations.blogspot.com or visit the little illuminations fanpage on facebook! And be sure to check out PreK+K Sharing EEE!