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Dr. Seuss with a Touch of Montessori

March 1, 2011 By Deb Chitwood 24 Comments

It’s time for some fun calendar observances for educators and families … Dr. Seuss’s birthday is March 2 and Montessori Education Week is often the same week! Many families and educators are also celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday all week.

Dr. Seuss with a Touch of Montessori

If you’re a strict Montessorian, you might not like all the fantasy in Dr. Seuss books. If you’re an eclectic Montessorian like me, though, you can enjoy both Dr. Seuss books and Montessori education. Many Montessorians and Montessori schools are celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday as well.

I think Dr. Seuss’s birthday can be made even better by adding a touch of Montessori. Here are some ideas for using Montessori principles when creating activities for a Dr. Seuss celebration with preschoolers (imagination plus Montessori!):

General Ideas for Using Montessori Principles to Make Activity Trays

1. Try to create hands-on activities. There are often ways you can make activity sheets into hands-on activities.

2. Put the materials for each activity on a tray on a low shelf in the appropriate area (language activities on the language shelf or language area on your shelf).

3. Show your child how to use the activity.

4. Allow your child to use the activity as long as he or she wants (great for improving concentration) and to repeat the activity as many times as he or she wants (important for fulfilling the needs of your child’s sensitive period).

5. Have your child put the materials back on the tray and return the tray to the shelf when your child has finished using an activity.

Dr. Seuss Ideas Using Printables from Seussville.com

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate liks (at no cost to you).

Here are just a few ideas on how to use Montessori techniques to convert the whimsical printables from Seussville into activity trays. I’d recommend standing the corresponding book on the shelf next to the tray for added interest.
Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss

Scroll down to the Pup and Cup printables. These are especially good for young readers. Even if a younger preschooler is able to read, converting activity sheets into hands-on activities helps young readers meet the needs of their sensitive period and developmental needs that an activity page might not.

Pup and Cup Activity Using Printable from Seussville

Pup and Cup Activity Using Printable from Seussville

Pup on Cup Example

Pup on Cup Example

“Pup and Cup” Printable: The above photos are of an activity created from this printable. You can make a hands-on activity that can be used many times rather than an activity page in which your child underlines the word “cup.” If this is for a homeschool and used for a short time, you could print the page on glossy photo paper to avoid the time and expense of lamination. I simply printed out the cards, cut them apart, and added cups and a miniature toy dog. You could use whatever type of miniature dog you might have. Your child sounds out each phrase phonetically and places the dog and cups in the appropriate position. For a younger child, you could print out two pages and make 3-part matching cards. Here’s an article with more information on 3-Part Cards from Montessori Print Shop.

“This or That?” Printable: For this activity page, you could use movable alphabet letters if you have them or else any letters (preferably lower-case) in which the consonants are red and the vowels are blue (if you want to be consistent with the Montessori movable alphabet). Have enough letters available for your child to spell the words hat, cat, and bat. Your child can sound out the word matching the picture and spell the word with the movable alphabet letters next to the page rather than crossing out the word that doesn’t belong on the activity page.

“All and Tall” Printable: This activity would be best for a child who has been introduced to “all,” so this wouldn’t be as good for beginning readers who are just starting to sound out 3-letter phonetic words with short-vowel sounds. Instead of having your child underline the all’s, you could make an activity tray by cutting apart the sentences and pictures. Then your child could read each sentence and match it to the appropriate picture. There’s a control of error because the sentence and picture at the end won’t match if your child makes a mistake.

Activities from Other Blogs Combining Dr. Seuss and Montessori Principles

Here are some fun ideas to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday:

Happy Belated Birthday Dr. Seuss from Montessori Mama

More Dr. Seuss from Montessori Mama

Seuss-y School from The A-Priori Mommy has Montessori-inspired Dr. Seuss activities.

All My Dr. Seuss Resources

Dr. Seuss with a Touch of Montessori

Dr. Seuss with a Touch of Montessori

Montessori-Inspired Dr. Seuss Activities

Montessori-Inspired Dr. Seuss Activities

Montessori-Inspired One Fish, Two Fish Math Activities

Montessori-Inspired One Fish, Two Fish Math Activities Using Free Printables

Montessori-Inspired Lorax Activities

Montessori-Inspired Lorax Activities

Cat in the Hat Practical Life Activities

Cat in the Hat Practical Life Activities

50+ Montessori-Inspired Dr. Seuss Activities

50+ Montessori-Inspired Dr. Seuss Activities

30+ Dr. Seuss Inspired Phonics Activities

30+ Dr. Seuss Inspired Phonics Activities

Dr. Seuss Inspired Cat in the Hat Sensory Bin

{Dr. Seuss Inspired} Cat in the Hat Sensory Bin

Free Apple Printables for Ten Apples Up On Top Activities

Free Apple Printable for Ten Apples Up On Top Activities (Instant Download)

Ten Apples Up On Top Sensory Bin & Table with Free Printables

Ten Apples Up On Top Sensory Bin & Table (Free Printables)

Ten Apples Up On Top Activities with Spielgaben {Free Printables}

Ten Apples Up On Top Activities with Spielgaben {Free Printables}

And for Dr. Seuss activities of all kinds, don’t miss my Dr. Seuss Unit Study Board with over a million followers!

Follow Deb @ Living Montessori Now’s board Dr. Seuss Unit Study on Pinterest.


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Filed Under: Activities - Language, Holidays and Celebrations, Montessori Principles, Teach/Learn Tagged With: activity trays, Dr. Seuss, Dr. Seuss's birthday, kidlit, language, Montessori Education Week, Montessori principles, preschoolers, Seuss

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Melissa Newell says

    March 1, 2011 at 5:23 am

    We are all about Dr Seuss and everything Seuss this month!

    http://just-starting-out.blogspot.com/2011/02/puttin-on-our-silly-hatsgetting-ready.html

    Reply
    • Deb says

      March 3, 2011 at 1:38 pm

      That’s awesome, Melissa! Thanks for sharing the link to your post – I love what you’re doing this month!

      Reply
  2. Michelle says

    March 1, 2011 at 5:44 am

    What a fun post on Dr Suess for his upcoming Birthday. We of course love Suess and those activities from here and the links look super fun! We will definitely be doing those. Currently we have ‘If I ran the Circus’ from the library and my two have gone back to look at it over and over again.

    Reply
    • Deb says

      March 3, 2011 at 1:40 pm

      Thanks, Michelle! Dr. Seuss books were always favorites for my kids and me, so I’m totally enjoying this! Have fun! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Eric Van Raepenbusch says

    March 1, 2011 at 7:38 am

    We love celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday. We did a great hands-on activity by making Oobleck after reading Bartholomew and the Oobleck:
    http://www.happybirthdayauthor.com/2011/02/happy-birthday-dr-seuss-march-2.html

    Reply
    • Deb says

      March 3, 2011 at 1:43 pm

      Thanks so much for sharing your link, Eric! I loved reading about (and seeing!) your Oobleck experience – and it was nice to hear what happened at the Target Storytime. I love the whole concept of your blog, too!

      Reply
  4. Sheila says

    March 1, 2011 at 12:50 pm

    My advanced English class is starting Dr. Suess books next week. Your post is just in time.: )

    Reply
    • Deb says

      March 3, 2011 at 1:45 pm

      Thanks, Sheila! That sounds like an awesome class! Be sure to check out the Dr. Seuss discussion at our Living Montessori Now Community – new links are added there each day this week!

      Reply
  5. Larri says

    March 2, 2011 at 4:37 am

    Surprisingly, all three of my kids have never been that interested in reading Dr. Seuss. Maybe my reading pentameter is off? 😉 Great ideas you’ve presented! Thanks for sharing. Happy Wednesday and Happy iFellowship! 🙂

    Reply
    • Deb says

      March 3, 2011 at 1:47 pm

      Thanks for visiting, Larri! It’s interesting that your kids weren’t that interested in Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss was so popular at our house that I kept all the books even though my kids are now 20 and 25! Happy iFellowship to you, too! 🙂

      Reply
  6. Rebecca says

    March 2, 2011 at 5:45 am

    HI Deb, stopping by as normal…and saw you on iFellowship today…so, had to see what you are up to, for sure!

    Love these activities. I really have not had time to play for the “Seuss” day….glad to always run to you for some great activities!

    Reply
    • Deb says

      March 3, 2011 at 1:50 pm

      Thanks so much for visiting, Rebecca! I hope you had a chance to get a little celebrating in yesterday! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Theresa says

    March 2, 2011 at 11:15 am

    I love Dr. Seuss. Such fun activities you have here.
    Happy iFellowship Day!

    Reply
    • Deb says

      March 3, 2011 at 1:51 pm

      Thanks so much, Theresa! Happy iFellowship to you, too! 🙂

      Reply
  8. Toddler Approved says

    March 2, 2011 at 4:09 pm

    Very fun! Great activities!

    Reply
    • Deb says

      March 3, 2011 at 1:52 pm

      Thanks! I love the Dr. Seuss activities you’ve shared at Toddler Approved, too! 🙂

      Reply
  9. Deborah says

    March 12, 2011 at 7:35 pm

    Thank you so much for linking to my Dr. Seuss Linky! I had to go back and fix all the photos – I don’t know what happened!!

    Reply
    • Deb says

      March 12, 2011 at 10:48 pm

      Thanks, Deborah! Those linkys can do strange things sometimes. Great linky, though – thanks for hosting it! I love Dr. Seuss and really enjoyed seeing all the creative ideas.

      Reply
  10. Monique says

    March 29, 2011 at 3:56 am

    Fantastic, off to check out those Dr Seuss links and printables now.. thank you

    Reply
    • Deb says

      April 9, 2011 at 2:24 am

      Thanks, Monique! I hope you found some activities you can use! 🙂

      Reply
  11. Jennifer Ross says

    February 25, 2012 at 11:05 am

    Wow! I saw that you shared my Dr. Seuss Tic Tac Toe on FB! I felt so honored 🙂
    I have tons of other seuss stuff if you want to come check them out on my blog – just look under the Dr. Seuss Tag 🙂

    ♥ Jen
    The Teachers’ Cauldron

    Reply
    • Deb says

      February 25, 2012 at 9:55 pm

      Thanks, Jennifer … it was my pleasure! I really appreciate you sharing your printable! I pinned your Dr. Seuss posts to my Dr. Seuss Unit Study Pinterest board at http://pinterest.com/debchitwood/dr-seuss-unit-study/. 🙂

      Reply
  12. Sierra at H is for Homeschooling says

    February 28, 2012 at 8:37 pm

    Thank you for sharing this post at WOTT, Deb! I pinned it so I can do a pup on cup type activity tray with Boogie when he recognizes sight words 🙂

    Reply
    • Deb says

      March 3, 2013 at 7:08 pm

      How funny … I just found this, Sierra! I hope everything is going well for you, and i hope Boogie has fun with the activities! 🙂

      Reply

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