My 2-year-old grandson is obsessed with fruits and vegetables, and my granddaughters love them, too (yay!). So I was especially excited to design these free fruit and vegetable cutting strips. To help children see where the fruits and vegetables come from, these cutting strips have 7 different fruits on their plants and 7 different vegetables on their plants. The second page encourages healthy eating with a heart-shaped eat-a-rainbow photo.
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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. (Note: Chrissy has some sweet, themed, free kids’ fitness printables that are great for homes or classrooms!)
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). The cutting strips use photographs or realistic images to emphasize reality. These cutting strips have photographs of 7 fruits on their plants and 7 vegetables on their plants.
Preschoolers love to learn proper terminology, so I tell you the name of the objects or animals featured whenever I can. These are quite obvious, but you can find the names of the fruits and vegetables on the printable’s credits page.
Free Fruit and Vegetable Cutting Strips
To download, 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).
Note: Go to the bottom of the post for free cutting strips for a wide variety of themes!
Montessori-Inspired Activity Using the Fruit and Vegetable Cutting Strips
Fruit and Vegetable Cutting Strips with Basket
Cutting skills are so important for preschoolers. Two year olds can begin working on them, too. When children are first working on cutting skills, they’ll have an easier time cutting cardstock than paper. So, in the beginning, I recommend printing the strips on cardstock. Printer paper is fine for children with more advanced cutting skills.
I’m not sure where I got the basket, although the small Multicraft tray would work, too. I’ve always liked Fiskar scissors for kids, which are sharp enough to cut paper easily.
For home use with the cutting work, I like to have a small container to catch the paper scraps. I used a small wooden box we had, although you could use any small container. For younger children, I recommend keeping the basket or tray up out of reach when it’s not being used.
For classroom use, you might want to use Ziplock bags to catch the scraps. Children have fun taking their scraps home in a bag … or saving them to paste onto a collage.
MORE FRUIT AND VEGETABLE RESOURCES
- Free Fruit & Vegetable Printables and Montessori-Inspired Fruit & Vegetable Activities
- Free Vegetables Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Free Fruit and Vegetable Songs and Educational Videos
- Free Eat-a-Rainbow Printables and Montessori-Inspired Activities
- Free Fruit Rainbow Do-a-Dot Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download
- Free Eat-a-Rainbow Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Montessori-Inspired Fruit Unit
- Montessori-Inspired Vegetable Unit
- Montessori-Inspired Food Art
- Montessori-Inspired Fruit Matching and Tasting for Toddlers
- Healthy, Yummy, Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins
- Kids’ Kitchen: Berry Yummy and Healthy Protein-Rich Popsicles
- Cutting a Banana Practical Life Activity for Toddlers
- Healthy, Frozen Raspberry and Yogurt Desert (Dairy-Free and Gluten-Free)
- Ants on a Log Food Fun Preparation for Preschoolers
- Fun with Montessori Apple Coring, Slicing, Spreading, and Sharing
- Yummy Gluten-Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Delicious and Nutritious Vegan, Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie or Pumpkin-Pie Squares
- Super-Healthy and Super-Yummy Strawberry Pineapple Smoothie
- Favorite Gluten-Free Sweet Spinach Muffins {AKA Green Monster Muffins}
- Kids’ Food Fun Pinterest Board
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!
The Best Way to Begin Working on Scissor Cutting Skills
Even before using cutting strips, I recommend using an easier object to cut, such as strings of beads. You’ll find lots of tips and ideas for teaching scissor skills in my post on developing scissor cutting skills with Montessori-inspired activities.
More Montessori-Inspired Paper Cutting Activities
You’ll find ideas for home and classroom setups in my post on Montessori-inspired paper cutting activities.
All Our Free Themed Cutting Strips
I’ve arranged the following gallery in alphabetical order. Just click on an image to go to the post with the related free printable!
You can see all our free cutting strips with the latest at the top here.
I hope your child (or students) enjoys using the cutting strips. 🙂
Learn more about my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to. Teach Grace and Courtesy!
The Montessori at Home! eBook and Montessori at Home! eBook and Materials Bundle are AMAZING resources! You can learn more about them here. Buy them in the Living Montessori Now shop.
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