The new school year is a great time for a Kissing Hand unit, especially for children who might be experiencing separation anxiety. Any time can be great for a forest unit. This free printable is perfect for either a Kissing Hand unit or forest unit. The printable reinforces work on the letter r sound. It’s an instant download, too!
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 name of the object or animal featured. This month, we just focused on the North American raccoon, though, so that any of the printables could be used for a Kissing Hand unit.
- 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 Raccoon Do-a-Dot Printable for the Letter R
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).
Montessori-Inspired Activities Using the Raccoon Do-a-Dot Printable
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links (at no cost to you).
Raccoon Do-a-Dot Letter R Sticker Tray
Raccoon Do-a-Dot Sticker Tray
This sticker tray is wonderful for fine-motor skills and works well for toddlers as well as preschoolers. I used a Montessori Services large plastic tray, ¾” color coding dots, and the raccoon do-a-dot printable.
Admiring Her Completed Raccoon Sticker Page
My 2¾-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, has been loving her Kissing Hand work recently. She enjoyed this addition to her work.
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. For a 2-year-old or other young preschooler who’s not ready to write letters, you can just leave off the crayons.
(Note: In case you’re wondering, Zoey’s blouse and skirt are from Gymboree!)
If you want to know how to introduce the letter sound for r, check out my post on how to teach letter sounds using Montessori principles.
More Kissing Hand Posts
Free Kissing Hand Songs, Poems, & Videos to Ease Separation Anxiety
Free Kissing Hand Craft with Handprint and Poem
Free Raccoon Printables and Montessori-Inspired Raccoon Activities {Kissing Hand Unit}
Montessori-Inspired Packs – Subscriber Freebies
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.
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