Montessori-Inspired Months and Seasons Activities for Hands-on Learning

Months and seasons can be very difficult for young children to understand. But hands-on activities can make the learning process much easier.

There are a number of great times during the year to emphasize months and seasons work. You might want to have months and seasons activities available at the start of the school year … or at the start of a new year. Or, if you have a homeschool or learning activities in your home, you might want to emphasize months and seasons during and after a Montessori birthday celebration.

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Materials Used for Our Montessori-Inspired Months and Seasons Activities

• Circle of the Year Montessori Cards from I Believe in Montessori (available for purchase at Teachers Pay Teachers – not an affiliate link … just a product I love) on a Multicraft wooden tray plus photo of layout or printed layout from PDF.
• Magnet sheets for printing the circle of life puzzle (I wanted to have a magnetic activity for our refrigerator, so this was my choice. I just printed the puzzle on the magnet sheets. I did add some magnetic tape to the sun because it didn’t go directly on the refrigerator. If you don’t want a magnetic version, you can print the puzzle on cardstock and then laminate it and/or make a Velcro version of the puzzle.)
• Montessori globe or some sort of globe to represent the Earth
• Materials from our Montessori birthday celebration on a second Multicraft wooden tray plus photo from our layout

Our Montessori-Inspired Months and Seasons Activities

Montessori Celebration of Life Extension

I placed the materials for our Montessori celebration of life layout with both months and seasons on a tray. I’m keeping this on the shelf for one week after Zoey’s birthday. While it wouldn’t be practical to leave the materials on the shelf after each child’s birthday, it works very well in a home environment.

Zoey absolutely loves this work, and having it on the shelf gives us more time to emphasize the months and seasons. After Zoey lays out the materials, we sing the “Months of the Year Song.” I use the version sung by A. J. Jenkins in my Free Back-to-School Songs and Rhymes for Circle Time. She also loves to go through her birthday ceremony again.

Circle of the Year Montessori Puzzle

I love this printable! It uses the Montessori colors for the seasons and is a great visual representation of the months and seasons. Like our birthday celebration layout, the months and seasons in this puzzle are meant to be displayed in a counterclockwise order (like the counterclockwise revolution of the earth around the sun).

Zoey enjoyed the puzzle and said she wants to do this work again another day.

Calendar Activities

Right now, we’re using the Melissa and Doug Wooden Magnetic Calendar, which I like a lot.

The wooden perpetual calendar from Jennifer on Etsy is gorgeous. If you have a preschool or homeschool and feel you’ll use the calendar enough to justify the higher cost, it could be a wonderful option for you. There are holiday coins, a tabletop stand, and even phases of the moon that can be purchased for the calendar.

More Montessori-Inspired Months and Seasons Work

Montessori-Inspired Months and Seasons Work

Simple Montessori-Inspired Magnetic or Velcro Calendar Activity Using Free Printables (This is an inexpensive DIY version we’ve used other years.)

• For some fun ways to add interest, check out my post “Enliven Your Homeschool with Some Calendar Fun.”
• See my monthly calendar observances and themed activities for kids.
• See my category of posts about seasons. (It includes posts with free songs and rhymes for circle time for each season.)

Do you have a favorite calendar activity and/or activity to teach your child the months and seasons?

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