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

A fish unit is great at any time, but it’s especially fun in the summer. We’ve had a lot of fun with ours!

Even though we don’t design a free do-a-dot for each unit any more (since we have so many already), I have a new do-a-dot printable that’s part of a series for both younger and older kids. The free do-a-dot printable is a fish do-a-dot phonics printable  … as usual, an instant download and very easy to prepare.

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

Often older children have fun with do-a-dot printables, so we plan to prepare a free do-a-dot for each class of vertebrates (amphibians, reptiles, fish, mammals, and birds) as we study them along with seven other units during the upcoming year. (We already have one for amphibians and one for reptiles).Younger children can focus on the beginning letter sound of each vertebrate class while older children will focus on phonograms and spelling as well as cursive if desired.

This is also a great time for older children to review fish and the traits of fish. Younger children could simply identify the animals on the printable. You could say something like, “These animals are all fish.”

Note: Be sure to read to the bottom of the post where you’ll find lots of ideas for using do-a-dot printables along with at least one free do-a-dot printable for each letter of the alphabet!

Montessori-Inspired Printables at Living Montessori Now

My daughter, Chrissy (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. This printable has a collection of fish.
• 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 Fish Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable

To download the fish do-a-dot phonics 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).

Tray with Fish Do-a-Dot and Sticker Work

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 use do-a-dot markers, stickers, or some sort of transfer on the do-a-dot page and focus on the /f/ sound, while an older preschooler could trace the letters and build the word “fish” with the Montessori movable alphabet. You can also use it to reinforce the /sh/ phonogram in fish, the cursive letter “f,” to focus on the spelling of fish, or even to focus on the spelling of “fish” in cursive.

For our fish do-a-dot tray, I used a Multicraft tray, ocean animal foam puffy stickers, and blue do-a-dot marker. I also added /sh/ in fish phonogram card from our subscriber freebie fish pack. (Note: There’s also an /f/for fish card in print, D’Nealian, or cursive.) If you prefer, you can use a variety of tools for transfer activities, such as quick sticks (training chopsticks), sugar tongs, or toast tongs.

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 pencils. 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 pencils.

Scroll down to see lots of ideas for using our do-a-dot printables for a variety of ages and themes.

Fish Phonics and Do-a-Dot Activities

This type of activity is wonderful for fine-motor development, increasing attention span, and reinforcing letter sounds for younger children. For older children or children who are ready, it’s a great printable for working on /sh/ in fish as well as spelling and/or cursive work. It’s also perfect for reviewing fish and their traits.

I used the fish do-a-dot with my 5-year-old granddaughter, Sophia, and 5-year-old grandson, Caleb, to focus on /sh/, spelling the word “fish,” and identifying which ocean animals are fish.

Sophia and Caleb used triangular grip pencils to trace the letters. I gave them the choice of regular lead pencil or colored pencils. They both chose the red and blue pencils and took turns using  them.

This is a great time to review the /sh/ phonogram with children who are working on the green series (and even advanced readers). Sophia and Caleb each spelled “fish” with our print movable alphabet.

Next, they each used the do-a-dot marker to color in their dots, creating water for their fish stickers.

They each had a sheet of ocean animal foam puffy stickers. They chose which ones they wanted to use for each dot. They could choose fish that fit in the dots or larger ones if they preferred. We had fun discussing which ocean animal stickers were fish and which ones weren’t.

Sophia and Caleb enjoyed completing their do-a-dot pages and discussing ocean animals with me and each other. 

On another day, Caleb used paints and more of the ocean animal stickers to make a complete ocean scene!

Do-a-Dot Work at Different Ages

For children under age 3, I typically use the do-a-dot printables for vocabulary, hearing the beginning sound of a word, and fine-motor skills. Generally, with toddlers, I’ll just focus on the /f/ sound at the beginning of “fish.” 

For a phonics lesson with young toddlers, I might casually say that “fish” starts with /f/ (the sound, not the letter name). This is just to introduce hearing the phonetic sound. I don’t focus on the letter “f,” although I use the printable that we already have available. We often focus on the child hearing the beginning sound by saying something like, “Fish, /f/, fish.”

With preschoolers who are working on their letter sounds, we follow the order shown in this post along with adding the featured letter. I don’t worry about going out of order for the monthly theme.

If you want to know more about how to introduce the /f/ sound, check out my post on how to teach letter sounds using Montessori principles.

I only use printables with children under age 3 that can be used for hands-on work, such as do-a-dot work, scissor cutting (cutting strips), or another type of printable that can be made into a manipulative. Printables when used with manipulatives are great for fine-motor development, work on important skills, and fit with the hands-on activities that are developmentally appropriate for toddlers.

For older children who already know their letter sounds but still enjoy do-a-dot work, I often add the print movable alphabet word building, phonogram work, another hands-on activity to go with the do-a-dot work, and/or cursive movable alphabet and word analysis work. (Note: These examples have more than one type of additional activity, which I like for older children.)

More Fish Resources:

Fish Science on Amazon

Montessori-Inspired Fish 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).

Montessori-Inspired Ocean 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 newsletter to get the link and password – or check your inbox if you’re already a subscriber).

Free Fish Printables and Montessori-Inspired Fish Activities

• Montessori-Inspired Ocean Unit
• Montessori-Inspired Resources for World Oceans Day
  Montessori-Inspired Ocean Math Activities
• Shark Unit Study
• Shells and Starfish Activities + Free Printable from Montessori By Mom
• Free Shark Printables and Montessori-Inspired Shark Activities
• Shark Water-Bead Number or Letter Sensory Bin
• Farm, Zoo, & Ocean Animal Sensory Bottles for Babies and Toddlers
• Coral Reef Kit and Sensory Bin
• DIY Coral Reef Water Table with Practical Life Activities
• The Ultimate Montessori-Inspired Shark Unit
• Free Ocean Printables and Montessori-Inspired Ocean Activities
• Free Ocean Songs and Educational Videos
• Free Guided Ocean Meditations for Kids {Mindfulness Resources}
• Free Guided Ocean Meditations {Mindfulness Resources for Teens and Adults}
• Free Ocean Animal Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
• Non-Scary and Montessori-Friendly Resources for a Shark Tooth Dig
• The Best Ocean Books for Kids
• How to Make a Simple Ocean Animal Water Table or Sensory Bin Featuring Sharks
• Ocean-themed, Editable Name and Word Tracing Pack in Print or Cursive

Helpful Animal Classification Posts

• Living and Non-Living
• Plant and Animal Sorting
• Montessori Animal Classification
• Free Zoo Printables and Montessori-Inspired Zoo Activities
• Montessori-Inspired Animal Units
• Montessori Vertebrate Resources for Preschool Through Elementary
• Free Amphibian Printables and Montessori-Inspired Amphibian Activities
• Montessori Invertebrate Resources for Preschool Through Elementary

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). You’ll find at least one free do-a-dot printable for each letter of the alphabet!

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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