A Winter Dance Story: The Most Perfect Snowman

Hello, and Happy 2020!

I have created a new dance story around one of my favorite picture books: The Most Perfect Snowman, by Chris Britt. This is a fun and lively mid-winter activity, perfect for story time!

This beautiful story is about generosity, kindness, and selflessness, and is told in a gentle way. The lovely illustrations and language portray the story of a lonely snowman, Drift, who only has two skinny stick arms, and a mouth and eyes made of coal.  He has no hat, scarf, or mittens.  He sees the parade of other stylish snow people go by, laughing, dancing, and playing, and he longs for company and to be like the other snowmen. Most of all he wants a nice carrot nose. He thinks that if he were stylish and had a carrot nose, he would be perfect.

Drift spends his days slipping and sliding through the woods all alone.  Three children see him and feel sorry for him.  One child gives him a hat.  Another gives him mittens, and a third gives him a scarf.  Then, one of them gives him a wonderfully big carrot, and says that now he is a perfect snowman. Drift is happy and plays with the children.

A furious storm blows in. Drift thanks the children and waves good-bye to them.  The wind blows his hat and mittens away, and he tries to find them.  He searches everywhere. He's sorry to lose his new clothes, but is happy that he still has his long, warm scarf, and his fancy carrot nose.

He hears a little whimper in the middle of the howling wind.  It is a small bunny who is trying to survive the cold winter night.  Drift gives the bunny his warm scarf.  Then he hears the bunny's tummy growl with hunger.  He gives the bunny his carrot, and this makes him "the most perfect snowman of all."

Now, let's dance the story!

THE MOST PERFECT SNOWMAN

Dance Story

Read the story aloud, then use the following prompts to inspire the children to retell the story through movement.  Call out each one, and give the children plenty of time to respond through movement. This activity takes about 15 minutes, and works best in a large space.

Play a quiet instrumental selection in the background, such as "Just Before Dawn," by William Ackerman, from the album "A Winter's Solstice," Vol 4.

Begin the Dance Story:

• Imagine you are Drift, the snowman. You have eyes, a mouth, and two stick arms.  

• You spend your days alone, slipping and sliding through the woods, slowly and sadly.

• Here comes a parade of fancy, stylish snowmen.  Can you parade around proudly, showing your hats, mittens, and scarves?

• Have an imaginary snowball fight.

• Now do a snowman dance!

• Swish and slide through the woods, like Drift, watching the other snowmen play. 

• Suddenly, you see three children.  Wave hello to them.  Maybe they will come over to you.

• One of them offers you her hat.  Put it on your snowman head!  What color is it?  How does it feel?

• Another offers you mittens.  What do they look like?  Put them on your stick arms.

• And now one gives you a long, warm scarf.  Can you wrap it around yourself?

• What is the little girl holding now?  A carrot!  She gives it to you!  Put it on your face, just like you have always wanted.  You are the perfect snowman! Play with the children in the snow.

• Imagine you are a snowflake flying around in the storm. What shape are you? Blow side to side, up and down, as the strong wind swirls you around.  

• Now imagine you are Drift, and suddenly your hat blows away.  Oh no!  Try to find it.  Now your mittens blow away.  Slide through the woods and try to find them too.

• It's time to hunker down for the night and wait out the storm.What do you hear?  Listen carefully. Do you hear a small voice?  Look all around. 

• Look down and see a tiny, shivering bunny who is lost.

• Now, imagine you are the bunny.  How does it feel to be very, very cold? The snowman is giving you his warm scarf! Wrap up in the soft scarf. 

• The kind snowman is giving you his wonderful orange carrot nose! Munch softly on the carrot as you snuggle up next to the most perfect snowman of all.

MOVING IS LEARNING!

Keep on dancin',

Connie

www.movingislearning.com

Montessori-Inspired Winter Activities Using Free Printables

By Deb Chitwood from Living Montessori Now 

Even though I live in San Diego California, I still love preparing hands-on winter activities and love a winter unit. Today, I have lots of Montessori-inspired winter activities along with a new winter pack (subscriber freebie at LivingMontessoriNow.com)!

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. 

Montessori Shelves with Winter Themed Activities

 

You’ll find Montessori-inspired winter 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 Winter Printables and Montessori-Inspired Winter Activities post at Living Montessori Now for the free printables and activity ideas you see on the collage and shelf above!

Free Montessori-Inspired Winter Pack

Montessori-Inspired Winter 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 Winter Resources, Including Many Free Printables

Amazon Affiliate:

• Montessori-Inspired Snowman Color Activities Using Free Printables
• Montessori-Inspired Snowman Letter Activities Using Free Printables
• Montessori-Inspired Winter Activities
• Montessori-Inspired Winter Playdough Activities
• Montessori-Inspired Winter Math Activities
• 25+ Snow-Themed Sensory Tubs
• Free Mitten Printables and Montessori-Inspired Mitten Activities
• Free Winter Songs and Rhymes for Circle Time
• Simple Snowman Sensory Bin {A Fun Way to Work on Essential Skills for Toddlers and Preschoolers
• Free Snowman Printables and Montessori-Inspired Snowman Activities
• Montessori-Inspired Winter Themes and Activities
• Teaching Toddlers about Winter with the Montessori 3-Period Lesson and Activities
• Free Snowflake Printables and Montessori-Inspired Snowflake Activities
• The Snowy Day Eggshell Crushing and Pin Poking Activity
• Montessori-Inspired Winter Activities with Spielgaben {Free Printables}
• Free Winter Playdough Math Pack (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
• Montessori-Inspired Playdough Math Activities for Winter {Free Printables
• Simple Winter Practical Life Activities
• How to Prepare a Simple Winter Playdough Tray with Super-Soft Playdough
• Free Winter Sports Printables and Montessori-Inspired Winter Sports Activities
• Free Winter Sports Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
• Free Winter Sports Do-a-Dot Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
• Kids’ Winter Activities Pinterest Board.

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

I hope your new year is off to a wonderful start! :)

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.

Montessori-Inspired Woodland Animal Activities Using Free Printables

By Deb Chitwood from Living Montessori Now 

Woodland animals make a great unit in the fall or winter. I have lots of free woodland animal printables and activities today, including a Montessori-inspired woodland animal pack (subscriber freebie at LivingMontessoriNow.com)! 

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 Woodland Animal Themed Activities

You’ll find Montessori-inspired woodland 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) 

I always have related books available throughout a unit. On the top shelf, Whose Tracks Are These? A Clue Book of Familiar Forest Animals for some animal track inspiration and Animals in the Forest (Where Animals Live) for basic information about forest animals. 

On the right side of the shelf ( book on a wooden cookbook holder), I have DK Smithsonian Picturepedia (beautiful photos and a fabulous reference book I use for many, many units!). 

You could mix your woodland animal themed activities among your shelves according to curriculum area. Or you could have a special woodland animal themed area something like the one pictured. My shelves at the beginning of our unit have a mixture of skill levels mainly from preschooler through early elementary. 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.

Whose Tracks Are These? Book with Woodland Animal Track Stones and Animal 3-Part Cards

 
Free Printable: Winter Adaptation 3-Part Cards from The Silvan Reverie 

There are 8 double-sided stones in the Let's Investigate Woodland Footprints set. To start our unit, I just put out 6 of the stones along with the matching 3-part cards. 

I display them simply on a Multicraft tray with the added Montessori cards display box (which I love and typically use for all my 3-part cards now).
 

Later on, we'll be using homemade playdough (this recipe minus any food coloring) to make footprints with the stones. I also plan to use the free animal tracks memory game printable to make an animal tracks memory game with wooden circles.

Forest Words Booklet

 
Free Printable: Forest Words Booklet (Forest Picture-Word Cards) from PreKinders

This is next to the open Picturepedia book on the top shelf. It’s so easy to prepare! Just print and cut it out. The printable even has places to punch holes to make a booklet using a binder ring.

Salt Writing Tray with Fox f and x Font Cards and Safari Ltd. Fox Figures

Free Printables: Fox letters f and x for 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)

You'll see a variety of simple letter writing trays in my previous unit study posts. I often 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 recently purchased this lovely spelling/alphabet tray from FamilyTreeWW on Etsy. Zoey recently turned 6 and is focusing on spelling a lot. She needs more room for writing longer words. We're also working on cursive. 

So I'm showing an example of how you can use the font cards (I included both f for the beginning sound of fox and x for the final sound of fox). for letters or words. To add interest, I included Safari Ltd. red fox and Arctic fox figures.

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.

Matching Manuscript and Cursive Hedgehog Letters with Cursive Movable Alphabet

Free Printable: Hedgehog movable alphabet cards in manuscript and cursive (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) 

Zoey really enjoys this activity. I've used it with a cursive tracing board. I got the 2-sided version (with capital letters on one side and lowercase on the other), since capital cursive letters aren’t commonly seen on written materials. After tracing the letters on the tracing board, Zoey places the manuscript letters in alphabetical order. Then she matches each of the cursive letters to the manuscript letters. 

We’ve been using a traditional small wooden manuscript movable alphabet, although we’re now working with the cursive wooden movable alphabet. There are a number of price ranges available. You can find more movable alphabet resources in my “Inexpensive and DIY Movable Alphabets” post. 

Squirrel and Acorn Division Activity

Free Printable: Squirrel Numbers and Division Equation 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 also printed out 10 squirrels. (You could print out whichever squirrel you prefer.) When we lived in Colorado, our yard and neighborhood was filled with scrub oak. I saved a bag of the acorns and used 20 for this. 

 
I asked Zoey to divide 20 acorns between 2 squirrels, saying "1 for you, 1 for you..." until they were all divided equally. After completing that equation as shown above, she worked out the equation for 20 divided by 10 using 10 squirrel pictures. It was a great visual of the differences in equations.

Woodland Footprints Double-Sided Stones with Woodland Animal 3-Part Cards

Free Printable: Animal Tracks Puzzles by Tara from Embark on the Journey for Free Homeschool Deals 

I just used 7 of the puzzles (7 woodland animals) for this activity along with Safari Ltd. figures. I used figures for the activities here from the Safari Ltd. North American Wildlife TOOB and Nature TOOB. 

Free Woodland Animal Printables for Preschoolers Through First Graders

Montessori-Inspired Woodland 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).

For more free woodland animal printables, see my post at Living Montessori Now with Free Woodland Animal Printables and Montessori-Inspired Woodland Animal Activities.

Have a wonderful start to the holiday season!

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.

Christmas Story and Dance Activity

Cheers! 🎄

I have a special blog post today.  I wrote a short (247-word) Christmas story for Susanna Leonard Hill's Holiday Writing Contest for children's writers.  Since this blog is about dance and movement, I have also created a movement activity for children three to six years old, to go along with the story.

I hope you enjoy reading the story Sparkle the Snowflake, and then dancing the story with your little ones!

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Sparkle the Snowflake

by Connie Bergstein Dow

Everyone knows that no two snowflakes are alike, but Sparkle was extra special.  She shone and shimmered a little brighter than all of the other snowflakes that lived in her cluster of clouds.

Sparkle and her snowflake friends had an important job to do.  They were to fall to earth on Christmas Eve. They would cover the hills and trees, and especially the rooftops of the houses, so that Santa and his reindeer would leave their footprints on the rooftops for children to see on Christmas morning.

The snowflakes were busy the day before Christmas.  They carefully planned their journey from the clouds. They practiced floating and staying together so they could create a beautiful snowfall that evening. 

Sparkle and all of the other snowflakes snuggled deep into the billowy clouds to get some rest before the busy night.  Soon, Sparkle woke up and looked around in alarm.  It was almost midnight!  “Wake up!” Sparkle called. Then she soared from cloud to cloud, making sure that every snowflake was ready.

Just in the nick of time, they slipped from the puffy clouds and began to twirl and dance in the chilly night air.  The snowflakes landed gently, and waited silently.  When the sun peeked over the hill, the snowflakes heard children laughing as they ran from their houses and saw the glistening snow.  Little did the children know that the snow that had greeted them this Christmas morning was all thanks to Sparkle, the shiny little snowflake.     

*

Here is a lively and playful creative movement activity for 3-6-year-olds 

*If available, play some holiday or other music for background as the children dance. 

*Optional props: "snowflakes" --  shower scrubbies or netting strips tied together

Dance the Story of Sparkle the Snowflake

Imagine you are a little snowflake.  What shape are you?  Now try a different one. And now one more.  Which do you like best?

Now think of what it would be like to practice your snowfall,  floating softly through the sky.

Snuggle deep into your cloud.  Pretend to drift off to sleep, thinking of something you like about the holidays, and imagine your are dreaming.  Wake up quickly, sit up, and show what your face looks like when you think you have overslept. Hop out of your billowy cloud as fast as you can!

Soar from cloud to cloud, waking up all of your snowflake friends. Now, imagine you are ready to fall to the ground.  Slip out of your cloud.  Dance in the cold night air!  Twirl, swirl, tumble slowly and quickly, get blown by the wind from side to side, up and down, around and around. Finally, you float gently to the ground.

Now imagine you are one of the children in the story.  Run out of your house, see the snow, and jump up and down.  Play in the snow! 

Have an imaginary snowball fight!  (Use optional snowflake props here). Make footprints in the snow.  Now, imagine you are sledding down a steep hill.  Fall out of your sled at the bottom of the hill and land in the soft snow.

 Roll snowballs and make a giant snow person.  What does it look like?  Now, imagine you are the snow person.  Make yourself into a snow person shape.  Uh-oh -- the sun comes out!  What happens?  Slowly melt to the ground.

The activity ends with a free dance to music.  Prompt the children to dance about ideas from the Sparkle the Snowflake story, the imaginary playtime in the snow, and anything else they like about winter. Use the props again if you have them.  Ask the children to throw them up in the air all together at the end of the dance to make a "blizzard."

*

Keep on dancin', and enjoy the holidays,

Connie

www.movingislearning.com

MOVING IS LEARNING!

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Montessori-Inspired Winter Sports Activities Using Free Printables

By Deb Chitwood from Living Montessori Now 

My family has had many amazing experiences because of both skiing and figure skating, so I tend to focus more on the Winter Olympics than the Summer Olympics. It was especially fun to prepare activities for a unit on winter sports.

The printables and activities today feature winter sports that are Olympic events. At Living Montessori Now, I have a list of free winter sports printables. The free printables include my latest subscriber freebie (a Montessori-inspired winter sports pack). 

Here, I'm sharing ideas for using free winter sports 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 Winter Sports Themed Activities

 

My shelves with winter sports activities include a free winter sports culture card designed by The Montessori Company. You’ll also find Montessori-inspired winter sports numbers, letters, spinners, 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. There aren't a lot of Olympic books for preschoolers, but I have some I especially like. I really love the series of alphabet books from Sleeping Bear Press. I have two for my winter sports unit: A is for Axel: An Ice Skating Alphabet by Kurt Browning and Z is for Zamboni: A Hockey Alphabet by Matt Napier. I like that series because it's a fun way to reinforce letters and letter sounds. And each book has a wealth of information. For younger children, you can just read the short part about each letter. You can include more details for older children. 

I also have A Kid's Guide to the 2018 Winter Games on my shelf. It's meant for older kids, but the information can be adapted for younger children, too. There will be more books with details about the specific competitors in 2018, but this one still has a lot of helpful information. 

I also have some fiction books about winter sports in my book baskets. One that's specifically about the Winter Games is Snowman Paul at the Winter Olympics. With an athletic snowman, it isn't a Montessori-style book, but it does give a memorable introduction to some of the Olympic events. 

You could mix your winter sports activities among your shelves according to curriculum area. Or you could have a special winter sports 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. 

Winter Sports Culture Card (on Shelf Introducing the Winter Sports Theme)

 

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

The description says: “Winter sports usually involve snow or ice and include skiing, snowboarding, hockey, ice skating, sledding and much more!” I displayed the card with with some of the books and activities introducing the winter sports theme. 

Matching Winter Sports Photos with Pictographs  

Free Printable: Winter Olympics Pack from Imagine Our Life 

This was super easy to prepare. I simply printed out the cards and added them to a Montessori Services basket. There are 3-part cards you can use, but I just used these cards to match the photo with the event pictograph. 

French Winter Sports Vocabulary Cards  

Free Printable: French Vocabulary Activity by Terri's Teaching Treasure at Teacher's Notebook 

This activity couldn't be much easier to prepare. Just print and laminate (lamination is optional for home use). You can use these for matching, on a word wall, or set out one card at a time as you feature the name of the event in French. 

Letter W Salt Tray (seen in shelf photo) 

Free Printables: /w/ is for winter sports in manuscript, D'Nealian, or Cursive for Letter W Sand 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 tray, I used plain white salt (for snow, of course!) in the wooden tray from the Melissa & Doug Lace and Trace Shapes. You can use whatever tray or container work best for you, though. 

Figure Skating 3-Part Cards for Sandpaper Letters and Movable Alphabet 

Free Printable: Figure Skating Printable Pack from Every Star Is Different 

I love the Montessori sandpaper letters and movable alphabet for teaching phonics skills. You can use have a child find the sandpaper letter that starts with the same sound as one of the pictures from the figure skating 3-part cards. When the cards are matched, the child has a self-check with the control cards.



The cards can be used the same way with the movable alphabet except that you'll want to chose the cards that are appropriate for a specific child's skill level. Have the child listen for the sounds in the pictured word and then find the letters to spell the word. 

Sports "or" Phonogram Card and Booklet Free Printables: “or” sports font cards (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). The images on the "or" sports cards (and the /w/ winter sports cards are related to events in the Winter Games. They're tiny and could be fun to look at with a magnifying glass as well! 

Free Printable: Green Series Phonogram or with Pictures and Words from MontessoriSoul 

This was so easy to prepare, yet it isolates the "or" phonogram very well. I have a post and video on how to introduce words starting with phonograms, even with very young children. 

Winter Sports and Equipment Matching Free Printable: Sorting - Winter Sports Match from Creations by Mrs Mouse at Teachers Pay Teachers 

This was another activity that was easy to prepare! I just printed and cut out the printable. For younger children, you can leave on the matching colored outlines. For older children, you can cut off the outlines and have colored dots or matching stickers on the backs as a control of error (self check). I like that this activity matches the equipment with the sport. 

Hockey Cards and Counters  

Free Printable: Hockey 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 basket, 55 little wooden dots from my Spielgaben educational toy set as hockey pucks, and a Bambu condiment cup to hold the "pucks."

 

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. 

You can lay out the activity from 1-10 as in the traditional Montessori cards or counters or 1-5 for a younger child. 

I used a Montessori Services rug for the layout. 

Winter Sports Tally Marks Creating and Number Matching Activity Free Printable: Winter Sports Number Recognition by Mme Michelle at Teachers Pay Teachers 

The Olympics are a good time for children to learn about tally marks. This activity uses both tally marks and winter sports events. I didn't use the number cards from the printable because the images weren't the same as the matching cards with the tally marks. So I just printed out an extra set of my hockey numbers 1-10 and cut off the photo. 

If you have traditional Montessori cards and counters, the wooden numerals would be perfect for this! I used a Multicraft tray, 55 toothpicks, and a Bambu condiment cup to hold the toothpicks.

 

I would have the child lay out the numerals from 1-10 before matching the cards with tally marks. Finally, the child can create the tally marks for each card with toothpicks. 

The Olympics are such a rich educational event! I'm looking forward to adding geography and other Olympic-related activities in the next couple of months!  

More Free Winter Sports Printables

Go to my post at Living Montessori Now for links to free winter sports printables from around the blogosphere: Free Winter Sports Printables and Montessori-Inspired Winter Sports 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 Olympic Posts

I have links to a number of Olympic activity posts in my "Montessori-Inspired Activities for Winter or Summer Olympics."

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 wonderful holiday season!

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.