Free Red Panda Printables and Montessori-Inspired Red Panda Activities

We’re having a red panda unit for a number of reasons right now. The main reason is that my just-turned-6-year-old grandson, Caleb, is fascinated with red pandas. A stuffed red panda named Pandy has always been his favorite stuffed animal. Also, like giant pandas, red pandas are very cute. They aren’t closely related, though. Red pandas are actually in a family of their own, Ailurus fulgens. (They more closely resemble raccoons than giant pandas.) And red pandas are an endangered species … perfect for an Earth Day study. 

Here, you’ll find links to free red panda printables used to prepare hands-on activities and a new Montessori-inspired red panda pack for our free newsletter subscribers’ resource library! This unit has resources for preschool through early elementary.

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

Montessori Shelves with Red Panda Themed Activities

You’ll find Montessori-inspired red panda themed numbers, letters, and and more (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber) Note: The Montessori-inspired red panda pack isn’t designed as a complete red panda unit but as supplemental materials. I design the packs using realistic images that I’ve often looked for when preparing a unit study (such as font cards and phonogram cards featuring the letter and phonogram related to the theme and math cards with realistic images that fit the theme and can be adapted for math activities at a variety of levels.)

You could mix your red panda themed activities among your shelves according to curriculum area. Or you could have a special red panda themed area something like the one pictured. My shelves at the beginning of our unit have a mixture of skill levels. Many of the activities can be adapted for a variety of levels. If you’re a homeschooler, just choose the activities that work for your child’s interests and ability levels. If you don’t have room for all the activities you’d like to do, simply rotate them.

Notice the framed illustration Ailurus fulgens (1869) by Dutch artist Joseph Smit. It’s a free download from Flickr CC. See more information here.

For our monthly featured art print, I purchased a Li’l DAVINCI art frame that opens in the front for easily changing a free art masterpiece printable or vintage illustration to fit with the month’s theme. The frame can be switched from horizontal to vertical without changing the hanger, which is perfect!

If you’re wondering about the rugs and rug box I use, both the rugs and wooden rug holder are from Montessori Services. I love the Montessori Services rugs and rug holder! I used to use an umbrella stand something like these. I loved that for 1-3 rugs, but I needed something different when I had more grandchildren and some projects that needed more than one rug.

Favorite Shelves, Trays, Baskets, and More for Montessori Homeschoolers

I often get asked about the trays, baskets, etc., that I use, so I published a post with many of the items. You can find lots of helpful resources here. They’re not all essential, so don’t feel you need to have everything. Just choose what’s best for your budget and your unique family’s needs. You’ll find more ideas in the Living Montessori Now Amazon shop

Books for a Red Panda Unit 

Even though I have books on shelves, I usually have many of my themed books in a forward-facing display after placing a plant where the themed book basket was before. Most of my seasonal books are now in that book basket. Most of the books and activities in this unit are for preschool through elementary.

For toddlers and preschoolers, about ¾ of the books I use are typically Montessori friendly (focusing on reality without smiling or talking animals or smiling or talking vehicles). 

Top Shelf of Main Themed Shelf: 

• National Geographic Kids Red Pandas has beautiful photos and easy-to-understand information.
• The Ultimate Red Panda Book is 100 pages long and recommended for ages 9 and up. Younger kids who are interested in red pandas (like Caleb) will enjoy learning lots and lots of facts about the species.
• National Geographic Animal Encyclopedia (You’ll notice that I love National Geographic books with their gorgeous photos!)

Top Shelf of Forward -Facing Display:

• Tree of Life: The Incredible Biodiversity of Life on Earth
• Let’s Classify Animals!

2nd Shelf:

• National Geographic Kids Ultimate Mammalpedia
• A Mammal Is an Animal

3rd Shelf:

• Mammals Everywhere (This is illustrated by Britta Teckentrup!)
• About Mammals
• National Geographic Kids Ultimate Explorer Field Guide: Mammals

4th Shelf:

• A Book About Red Pandas for Kids
• Red Pandas (Wild About Animals)
• Red Pandas (Elementary Explorers)

Bottom Shelf

• Red Pandas: Dusk to Dawn Adventures
• Red Panda Rescue (The Adventure Club) This is a fiction chapter book recommended for ages 7-9. Caleb just turned 6, but he sat down and read this book as soon as it arrived. He absolutely loved it!
• How to Make a Red Panda Laugh (red panda joke book for ages 4-8)

You can see many red panda books here: Red Panda Books for Kids (including books as they’re published)

Red Panda Books with Red Panda Diagram and Craft

National Geographic Kids Red Pandas book has beautiful photos and easy-to-understand information. The Ultimate Red Panda Book is 100 pages long and recommended for ages 9 and up. Younger kids who are interested in red pandas (like Caleb) will enjoy learning lots and lots of facts about the species.

Free Printable: Black and White Diagram of a Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens) by Sheri Amsel at ExploringNature.com

Free Printable: Red Panda Printable Craft from Learn Create Love

Free Printable: Getting to Know the Red Panda by Malorie Grace Ink at TPT (This is an informational page that I have underneath the craft printable on the tray.)

The template is for a fun craft that’s adaptable for a variety of ages. Older children could label their panda using the free diagram (or simply study the diagram).

LEGO Red Panda and Red Panda Pages from the National Geographic Animal Encyclopedia with Red Panda Crafts in the Background

Caleb was happy to put together the red panda and bamboo from his LEGO 3-in-one Majestic Tiger Building Set (Tiger, Red Panda, and Koi Fish Set) as a display for our red panda unit.

Here, you can see red panda pages from National Geographic Animal Encyclopedia (the book on the easel) with red panda crafts in the background.

Sand Writing Tray for Red Panda Unit

Free Printable /r/ for red panda font cards (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my free newsletter to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber). They come in print, D’Nealian, and cursive. 

You’ll see a variety of simple letter writing trays in my previous unit study posts. I often used the wooden tray from the Melissa & Doug Lace and Trace Shapes. You can use whatever tray or container work best for you, though.

The sandpaper letters I use with younger kids are available in print or cursive.

I typically now use this lovely spelling/alphabet tray from FamilyTreeWW on Etsy. I like it for writing more than one letter or spelling words. (Note: That sand tray is currently unavailable, but you’ll find lots of other options for Montessori sand trays on Etsy.) I found some colored sand in 12 colors on Amazon that I started to use instead of salt or colored salt. I love it because it’s so soft and feels great! 

If you would like help with introducing phonetic sounds, introducing objects with sounds, or beginning phonics in general, check out my DIY Beginning Montessori Phonics with Preschoolers.

Short and Long oo Work

Free Printable: Long oo in bamboo (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my free newsletter to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber)

90% of the red panda’s diet is bamboo, so I used oo as the phonogram for this unit.

Free Printable: Long oo Short oo Sorting Activity from MontessoriSoul (More words are included than I show in the layout.)

Free Printable: Vowel Combination Sorts (including oo) by Laura Ado at TPT (I used this for the short oo and long oo headers.) 

Red Panda Alphabet Cards in Print and Cursive

Free Printable: red panda alphabet cards (part of my subscriber freebies, so just sign up for my free newsletter to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber). 

There are so many ways the alphabet cards can be used! This is just one idea for children who are focusing on both spelling and learning cursive. 

The red panda alphabet cards in print and cursive are easily adaptable, depending on the child’s level. They can be used for a variety of activities, such as matching letters with sandpaper letters, matching print to cursive letters, or movable alphabet word building. 

Matching Numerals with Miniature Red Pandas and Bead Bars

Free Printable: red panda number cards and symbols (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my free newsletter to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber).

I used the cute miniature red pandas from UnconventionalJ at Etsy. They’re available at a reasonable price in a number of quantities. This is the second time I’ve ordered from UnconventionalJ, and I’ve been impressed both times. This seller has so many fun miniatures. I believe they’re the Safari Ltd. Good Luck Minis, which are hard to find in a variety of quantities. The miniatures arrived quickly both times and have been just what I needed!

This activity uses a piece of felt for a table mat and bead bars from the decanomial box in a Multicraft tray and a Bambu condiment cup (what I used here) or  Montessori Services basket. (My bead bars, which I love, are from Alison’s Montessori. You can get decanomial boxes on Amazon, although I haven’t personally used materials from those companies.)

You could play this like a card game. I like to mix the cards up, turn them over, and have the child draw a card. The mini red pandas are laid out and then the bead bars to represent the number.

In my Montessori-inspired panda activities, I had another way to do the activity with a spinner from the printable pack. 

There are so many different activities you can prepare using the math cards! You’ll find many ideas in our previous units.

Red Panda Shape Matching

Free Printable: Red Panda Shapes Adapted Book and Activities by Embracing Learner Inclusion at TPT

For this activity, I used a multicraft tray, Montessori insets from Alison’s Montessori, a Montessori Services basket, and small tabletop easels to hold the red panda shape cards.

These cards are such a fun extension for work with geometric shapes!

Younger kids could match the shape cards to the insets. Older kids could use the insets to trace the shapes and then draw the red panda faces. Caleb traced each of the shapes with its inset, drew a face and ears on each, and cut out the red panda heads. They were adorable, and he was very proud of them!

Montessori Shelf with Red Panda Crafts

These are some fun crafts for a red panda unit! The first activity uses a red panda bead craft kit from beadkidsunitedstates on Etsy. I printed out the tutorial guide from the website. I recommend using the YouTube tutorial as well. This is generally best for ages 8 and up, although it depends on the child. I included a photograph (free download from Wikimedia Commons) as an example of a real red panda’s face. I love that there are so many resources online to help kids complete these bead kits.

The clay tray uses a red panda cookie cutter (red panda outline) by lootcaveco at Etsy. Caleb was so excited about this activity and went to work right away making a red panda using our homemade playdough. Unfortunately, with a thin design like the outline, the playdough cracked when dry. So I researched air-dry clay and found great reviews for Creative Paperclay Modeling Compound. That worked perfectly, and Caleb loved it! He used the photograph (free download from Wikimedia Commons) to carefully paint the details on his red panda once it was dry. 

Free Montessori-Inspired Red Panda Pack

Montessori-Inspired Red Panda 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).

Related Resources and Activities

Red Panda Toys on Amazon

• Free Panda Printables and Montessori-Inspired Panda Activities (Even though giant pandas aren’t related to red pandas, I included them here because they both have “panda” in their name and are often mistakenly thought of as relatives.)
• Free Panda Do-a-Dot Printables (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
• Free Panda Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download), 
• Free Woodland Animal Printables and Montessori-Inspired Woodland Animal Activities
• Free Endangered Animal Songs and Educational Videos {Save the Animals}
• Free Endangered Animal Printables and Montessori-Inspired Endangered Animal Activities
• Free Mammal Printables and Montessori-Inspired Mammal Activities
• Montessori Vertebrate Resources (including a Mammal Printable Pack) for Preschool Through Elementary

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
• Free Reptile Printables and Montessori-Inspired Reptile Activities
• Free Fish Printables and Montessori-Inspired Fish Activities
• Free Bird Printables and Montessori-Inspired Bird Activities post
• Free Mammal Printables and Montessori-Inspired Mammal Activities post
• Montessori Invertebrate Resources for Preschool Through Elementary

If you’d like ideas for calendar-based themes throughout March and April, see my March Themed Activities for Kids. and April Themed Activities for Kids.

Happy spring!

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