Living Montessori Now

Montessori Inspiration for Parents and Teachers

FREE Constellations Do-a-Dot Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)

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We continued our glow-in-the-dark fun this month with our constellations do-a-dot printable! We did phonogram work, movable alphabet word building, handwriting practice, fine-motor work, and constellation building … all as part of our constellation do-a-dot tray. As usual, the constellations do-a-dot printable is super easy to download and prepare.

Montessori-Inspired Printables at Living Montessori Now

My daughter, Chrissy Chitwood (a former Montessori child), and I are partnering to bring you a series of Montessori-inspired printables. The printables are typically themed and use a number of Montessori principles (although you don’t need to be a Montessori teacher or homeschooler to use them):

  • They use isolation of quality.
  • They use photographs or realistic images to emphasize reality. Whenever I can, I’ll tell you the specific name of the object or animal featured on the credits page. For this printable, the names of the constellations are already on the do-a-dot page.
  • They typically use traditional Montessori colors such as red for consonants and blue for vowels.
  • They use lowercase letters, which are what we introduce letter sounds with in Montessori education. (Children tend to pick up the uppercase letters without being introduced if they’re introduced to the lowercase letter sounds.)
  • They often feature themed printable versions of Montessori materials.

Free Constellations Do-a-Dot Printable for the Letter C

To download the constellations do-a-dot printable, click here and then click on the file image in the upper right corner of the PDF to save to your computer (just choose where you want it saved).

Montessori-Inspired Activities Using the Constellations Do-a-Dot Printable for the Letter C (and the Suffix tion)

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

Tray with Constellations Do-a-Dot Work and Constellation Building Plus Phonics Activities

Tray with Constellations Do-a-Dot Work and Constellation Building Plus Phonics Activities

Tray with Constellations Do-a-Dot Work and Constellation Building Plus Phonics Activities

Note: This is just one example of how you can use the do-a-dot printables. There are many ways to use our do-a-dot printables. Scroll down to see examples from previous posts. Just choose an activity that’s appropriate for your child’s age and skill level.

I used a Multicraft tray with these glow-in-the-dark stars in the two smallest sizes.

I added the c for constellations font card from our Montessori-Inspired Constellation Pack (subscriber freebie). For Zoey’s work with the suffix -tion, I used the “tion” card from the free Suffixes Interactive Notebook Flaps from Teachers Pay Teachers. We also used the free Phonics / Digraph / Trigraph Flashcards 2 ( Jolly Phonics / Letterland ) from Teachers Pay Teachers. I made the -tion word cards into a book instead of using them as flashcards.

You could add a tracing activity to the printable. If you laminate your printable, you can use an erasable crayon like the Melissa & Doug Learning Mat Crayons or Crayola Erasable Crayons. If your page isn’t laminated, you could add a pencil or colored pencil. I often do that. For a 2-year-old or other young preschooler who’s not ready to write letters, you can just leave off the crayon or pencil.

If you’re interested in the star and constellations books we’ve used for our unit, see my post with the best star and constellation books for kids.

Constellation Phonogram Work, Movable Alphabet Word Building, Handwriting Practice, and Fine-Motor Work

Constellation Word Building and Do-a-Dot Work with Glow-in-the-Dark Stars

Constellation Word Building and Do-a-Dot Work with Glow-in-the-Dark Stars

This do-a-dot printable can be used in a variety of ways, depending on the age and ability of the child. A younger child could just place stars on the do-a-dot page (or use another type of do-a-dot activity) and focus on the /c/ sound, while an older child could trace the letters, study the phonogram “tion”, and build the word with the Montessori movable alphabet.

For a child who’s ready for (or already using) the movable alphabet, you could have the child build the word first. My 4½-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, likes to use the movable alphabet to build the word and analyze it with me. (We use the small movable alphabet. I have the movable alphabet from Alison’s Montessori, which I love. You can also get a movable alphabet from Amazon or make your own.)

Note: In case you’re wondering, Zoey’s dress is from Gymboree, my favorite place to buy kids’ clothes.

Before building the word “constellation,” we used the free -tion card. We talked about the sound “tion” makes, and Zoey colored the letters red. Then Zoey read the “tion” words in the little booklet. After that, Zoey used the movable alphabet to build the world “constellation.” Then she traced the letters and used glow-in-the-dark stars to fill in the do-a-dot letter “c.”

If you want to know how to introduce the letter sound for c, check out my post on how to teach letter sounds using Montessori principles.

Constellation Building with Glow-in-the-Dark Stars

Glow-in-the-Dark C for Constellation and Constellation Scorpius

Glow-in-the-Dark C for Constellation and Constellation Scorpius

After our phonics work and do-a-dot work, we discussed different constellations. Even though I’m not into astrology, we had talked about constellations of the Zodiac before, and Zoey was interested in the fact that her birthdate is associated with the constellation Scorpius. So Zoey used the constellation diagram on the printable to create Scorpius on the tray using glow-in-the-dark stars. Then we went into our dark bathroom for some glow-in-the-dark fun!

Note: The printable’s image for constellations says Scorpio for that constellation, but I used the actual constellation name of Scorpius instead of the Zodiac sign.

More Astronomy Activities and Resources

Stars and Constellations Materials on Amazon

Solar System Science Materials on Amazon

The Ultimate Montessori-Inspired Star and Constellation UnitThe Ultimate Montessori-Inspired Star and Constellation Unit

MONTESSORI-INSPIRED PACKS – SUBSCRIBER FREEBIES

Montessori-Inspired Constellation Pack

Don’t miss our themed monthly packs! You’ll get  the link and password for the Living Montessori Now subscriber library with the current pack and all the past monthly packs if you subscribe to the Living Montessori Now weekly newsletter!

Free Do-a-Dot Printables and Ideas for Using Them

I love the versatility of do-a-dot printables! If you’re doing a month-long theme, you could easily change out the type of do-a-dot activity weekly to add interest. Here are four ideas of hands-on activities for any of our do-a-dot printables from my frog do-a-dot printable post (see post for details and materials used).

Just click on an image to go to the post with the related free printable!

Note: I’ve arranged the following gallery in alphabetical order, although some posts have two do-a-dot printables (and two different letters). Also, I don’t introduce letters in alphabetical order. You can find out the order in which I introduce letter sounds here. I deviate from that order for our unit studies, though, and focus on a letter that’s simply related to our unit. That’s in addition to our other letter work.

You can see all our free do-a-dot printables with the latest at the top here.

For complete themed alphabet do-a-dot packs, see our Animal Alphabet Do-a-Dot Pack, Spanish Animal Alphabet Do-a-Dot Pack, and Healthy Food Alphabet Do-a-Dot Pack available for purchase in the Living Montessori Now shop.

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