A kings and queens unit can be lots of fun for multiple ages. I have free kings and queens printables and hands-on activities for you today, including a Montessori-inspired kings and queens 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 King and Queen Themed Activities
You’ll find Montessori-inspired king and queen themed 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)
The Usborne Big Picture Book of London is fascinating for kids and adults. I spent a year and a half in England while getting my master's degree, so I especially loved reading about all the places I saw there. The book has a two-page spread on Buckingham Palace, a two-page spread on Royal London, and a two-page spread on the Tower of London. So there's a lot of fun information appropriate for a kings and queens unit.
The open book is The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History, which I love for its overview of world history, which is adaptable for a wide variety of ages. (I linked to the general category because there are various options of editions and prices available.)
On another shelf (shown in the photo below with Zoey), you'll see the Usborne Hello! London, a push, pull, slide book perfect for toddlers. See inside The History of Britain (an Usborne Flap Book) is an especially appealing introduction to history for young children. I love the series of alphabet books that includes P is for Princess: A Royal Alphabet. There are simple rhyming verses for preschoolers and indepth information for older children. P is for Princess includes both nonfiction information about royalty and some ideas from fairy tales.
I have some other related reference books and fiction books in book baskets.
You could mix your king and queen themed activities among your shelves according to curriculum area. Or you could have a special king and queen themed area something like the one pictured. My shelves 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.
Castle Color Matching with Montessori Color Box 3
Free Printable: Color Matching Castles from Medieval Pack, Part 4 by 3 Dinosaurs
In the Montessori Services basket in the left of the middle shelf, you'll see the castle color cards. I used Montessori color box 3 with the cards to make an interesting color matching activity. Younger children could just match the cards to each other. Older children can work to find the closest match to the cards using color box 3. Some don't have a perfect match, so the child has to decide which is closest.
Salt and Sparkles Writing Tray with K for King and Q for Queen
Free Printables: King and Queen Letters for Letter K and Letter Q 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)
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 had used this previously in our bee unit. This time, I added some glitter and miniature gold beads that I had for some royal sparkles!
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.
Phonogram Cards, Booklets, and Movable Alphabet Work
These are the materials you can see on the right side of my middle shelf. I'll add the "ow" phonogram work to the shelf in a week or so.Free Printables: "ng" king phonogram cards, “ee”queen phonogram cards, and "ow" crown phonogram 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)
Free Printables: "ng" Sound with Letters, “ee” Sound with Letters, and "ow" Sound with Letters from MontessoriSoul
These activities are very simple to prepare. I printed out two copies of each phonogram's pictures and words. I made booklets with the first copy. I cut apart and placed the second copy of pictures and words in the basket for movable alphabet work after children are comfortable with the phonograms.
I have a post and video on how to introduce words starting with phonograms, even with very young children.
Queen Addition with Miniature Crowns and Montessori Bead Bars
Free Printables: Queen Elizabeth II Numbers and 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). 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. I found these cute gold metal miniature crowns that are available inexpensively in a package of 20.
The miniature crowns are very inviting, and my 5-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, really enjoyed the work. We played it like a game where I had the numbers below 10 in one stack and the numbers from 10-18 in another. Zoey drew two numbers from the first stack for the addends.
She was proud that she knew a number of the answers before checking them with the miniature crowns. After counting the crowns (or knowing the answer and placing the number card), Zoey placed the correct bead bars to represent the answer.
Crown Making and Decorating
Free Printable: Tudor Bling: King and Queen Art and Costume by Mr B's Classroom at Teachers Pay Teachers
Free Printable: King or Queen for a Day Crown and Coupons by Brenda Tajeda at Teachers Pay Teachers
A kings and queens unit isn't complete without some crown making! This tray shows one of the Tudor Bling printables. There are a number of printables in the free pack for making a royal costume. Our markers are in a separate place, so I just placed the scissors, glue, and some acrylic gems on a Multicraft tray.
The other printable I linked to would be fun for another time!
Free Kings and Queens Printables for Preschoolers-First Graders
Montessori-Inspired Kings and Queens 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, Phonogram Work, 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
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.
Have a great month!
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.
