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

Whether you live near an ocean, are planning a trip to the ocean, or simply want to learn about ocean life, a seashell unit is lots of fun! We’re loving our seashell unit, and I’m here to share another free seashell printable with you today. As usual, the free “s” for seashell do-a-dot phonics printable is an instant download and super easy to prepare!

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

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 month’s do-a-dot printable shows a conch shell.
• 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 Seashell Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable

To download the seashell 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).

Montessori-Inspired Activities Using the Seashell Do-a-Dot Printable

Tray with Seashell Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable, Conch Shell, Small Seashells, and Toast Tongs 

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, an easel with one of the “s” for seashell font cards (available in print, D’Nealian, and cursive), a conch shell, miniature shells (mine are from the Montessori By Mom Shells and Starfish Toolbox, and toast tongs. I’ve started putting out triangular grip pencils for my 3-year-old grandkids for any writing or drawing they want to do. Triangular grip pencils are a great way to help young children develop the proper pencil. grip.

You can use a variety of tools for transfer activities, such as quick sticks, sugar tongs, or toast tongs. (Note: With toddlers, be extra careful to avoid leaving out materials, such as pom poms, glass gems, or small seashells, that could be a choking hazard. I typically keep small objects up out of reach for toddlers and get them out when I’m directly supervising their work.)

You can add erasable crayons or markers to a laminated page for preschoolers to work on tracing skills. I don’t have my grandkids trace letters or numbers before age 3 except with their fingers. Above age 3, I place colored pencils on the tray for children who are ready for tracing work. 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. If you only have 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.

/S/ for Seashell with Conch Shell and Seashell Transfer

This type of activity is wonderful for fine-motor development, increasing attention span, and reinforcing letter sounds.

My 3-year-old grandson, Caleb (Chrissy Chitwood‘s son) already knows his phonetic sounds, thanks to sound games and small objects with sandpaper letters. Caleb was fascinated with learning phonetic sounds and learned them much earlier than normal. I didn’t have him do structured writing activities with pencils, though. I still mainly have him trace letters on sandpaper letters, wooden tracing boards, or our sand tray. He is becoming more and more interested in handwriting now, though, so we’ve just begun work on tracing his name and letters using a triangular grip pencil (even though he has a great pencil grip for his age).

For toddlers, 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 /s/ sound at the beginning of “seashell.” 

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

Both of my 3-year-old grandkids love working with sandpaper letters and other letter activities. This is what I do with preschoolers who are learning 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 /s/ sound, check out my post on how to teach letter sounds using Montessori principles.

I only use printables with toddlers 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.

With Caleb, we focus on the proper formation of the letter “s” by tracing the large “s” first. Sometimes we use the sandpaper letter or our salt/sand tray.

Caleb really enjoyed the work transferring the seashells to the dots on the letter. I loved seeing his concentration! I also loved the way he was able to hold the toast tongs with a pincer grasp. If your child can’t do that yet, don’t worry. It simply takes practice with practical life activities and other fine-motor activities. Caleb did much of his fine-motor work through a love of LEGO bricks!

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.

For older children who already know their letter sounds but still enjoy do-a-dot work, I 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.) This do-a-dot printable also works well for analyzing the word with the “ea” and “sh” phonograms in “seashell.” You can also focus on the “ch” phonogram in “conch.” 

As always, adapt your presentations for your unique child!

More Ocean Resources

Free Seashell Printables and Montessori-Inspired Seashell Activities

Free Seashell Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)

• Seashell Color Matching {Easy-to-Prepare Variation of Montessori Color Box 3}
• Seashell and Sea Life Nature Tray: How to Teach Vocabulary Using the 3-Period Lesson
• Shells and Starfish Activities + Free Printable from Montessori By Mom
• Montessori-Inspired Ocean Unit
• Montessori-Inspired Beach Language Activities
• Montessori-Inspired Resources for World Oceans Day
• Montessori-Inspired Ocean Math Activities
• Montessori-Inspired Turtle Activities
• 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
• Montessori-Inspired Toddler Geography Activities with Baby Beluga
• Coral Reef Kit and Sensory Bin
• Letters and Words in the Sand {Montessori-Inspired Beach Phonics Fun}
• Wonderful Whale and Water-Bead Sensory Bin {Free Printables}
• Free Turtle Printables and Montessori-Inspired Turtle Activities
• Free Turtle Do-a-Dot Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
• Free Turtle Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
• DIY Coral Reef Water Table with Practical Life Activities
• The Ultimate Montessori-Inspired Shark Unit
• Seashell Color Matching {Easy-to-Prepare Variation of Montessori Color Box 3}
• Free Ocean Printables and Montessori-Inspired Ocean Activities
• Free Ocean Songs and Educational Videos
• Free Relaxing Ocean Images, Sounds, and Music for Kids and Adults {Mindfulness Resources}
• Free Guided Ocean Meditations for Kids {Mindfulness Resources}
• Free Guided Ocean Meditations {Mindfulness Resources for Teens and Adults}
• Free Octopus Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
• 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 Unit Study Pinterest Board

 

Montessori-Inspired Seashell 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).

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.

Learn more about my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to. Teach Grace and Courtesy!

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