Although a high-quality Montessori grammar farm is beautiful, it can cost around $400. Homeschools and even most Montessori schools have to come up with an alternative. I already published a Montessori Grammar Farm post with lots of great DIY Montessori grammar farm ideas.
Today, I’m going to share an inexpensive, DIY Montessori grammar farm that’s simple to prepare.
Disclosure: I was given the Safari Ltd. Farm TOOB and Safari Ltd. Down on the Farm TOOB that I used in this post for my Safari Ltd. Farm TOOB Review and Giveaway. I was given the Farm Game Labels (in color) by my sponsor Montessori Print Shop. All opinions are honest and my own. This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you.
Inexpensive, DIY Montessori Grammar Farm
This version of the Montessori grammar farm is especially good for homeschoolers with older children. Many advanced preschoolers through children in early elementary could easily cut apart and assemble the paper-craft farm that’s available as a barnyard scene paper craft: red barn paper craft, barnyard silo paper craft, farm animals and trees paper craft, and barnyard farm fences paper craft.
Often, children in early elementary will be more comfortable working with a paper-craft farm they created rather than working with a farm that’s designed for preschoolers, regardless of how nice it is. This could also be a good version for grandparents or families with very limited space who have children who could handle a paper-craft farm well.
For preschoolers, I would demonstrate how to handle the paper structures carefully. The paper structures aren’t extremely fragile, but it always helps for preschoolers to be given a demonstration on how to gently handle materials. Of course, if you’re the parent of a toddler, you might want to invest in a nice wooden farm set (or another type) like one of the DIY Grammar Farms in my previous Montessori Grammar Farm post.
Preparing the DIY Grammar Farm
DIY Montessori Grammar Farm Showing Noun Labels
For this version of a Montessori grammar farm, I used the Safari Ltd. Farm TOOB and Safari Ltd. Down on the Farm TOOB. I love Safari Ltd. TOOBS for the realistic detailing on each of the figures, but you could use other miniature farm animals and whichever figures you prefer for your farm. Safari Ltd. also has a Farm Babies TOOB, which you might like to add as well. I have a review (and free TOOB keys) for the farm TOOBS.
Otherwise, I just used a yard of thick felt ($3.97 at Walmart) and the Montessori Print Shop Farm Game Labels (in color) ($3.49). Even if Montessori Print Shop weren’t my sponsor, I would have chosen those for the labels. There are 334 labels:
- 12 articles (5 the, 4 a, 3 an)
- 112 nouns
- 68 adjectives
- 88 verbs
- 3 conjunctions
- 16 prepositions
- 4 pronouns
- 18 adverbs
- 13 interjections
I appreciate that the labels have borders to match the Montessori grammar materials. Even though I didn’t need all the labels, I was able to find labels for all my figures, and it was very easy to prepare professional-looking labels simply by printing, laminating, and cutting out each label. With a paper cutter, it’s very simple, although cutting with a scissors also works well. Some of the extra labels could be used to create other grammar activities, too.
The barnyard paper craft just needed to be printed on cardstock, cut out, and glued together. I was amazed at how simple it was to put together. I put together each piece in about 5 minutes. The most difficult part was gluing each piece (holding it in place for a few seconds). You might need to hold the glued areas for your child if you aren’t preparing the farm, but otherwise everything is doable for a child with adequate cutting and folding skills.
This would be easy enough for 5-8 year olds to prepare on their own. What could be easier for you to prepare than that?! If you have a homeschool with multiple ages, your older child might enjoy preparing a farm for the younger children and then reviewing the parts of speech with it.
Using the Grammar Farm with Multiple Ages
Initial Grammar Farm Labels (Photo from To the Lesson!)
To the Lesson! has free initial grammar farm labels with pictures that are small and could fit well on the Montessori grammar farm for young children: More Reflections – The Farm (and a Little Bonus). There aren’t labels for each animal I used, but there are a good number in the set. They would provide a nice way for younger preschoolers to be involved in using the grammar farm.
Montessori Grammar Farm Tray
You could either leave the grammar farm set up on a table, or, with this grammar farm, you could put it on a tray except for the felt (which could be rolled up and stored with your Montessori rugs). I put both the cards for younger children and the noun labels on this tray.
I love the grammar farm for hands-on work with parts of speech. I show the noun labels on the basic grammar farm layout.
Montessori Grammar Farm – Article, Adjective, Noun
For children who are ready, you could introduce the other parts of speech.
Montessori Grammar Farm Sentence
Even as an adult, I think it’s lots of fun to create sentences with the grammar farm. There are lots of possibilities in the labels from Montessori Print Shop.
I’d love to hear about your experiences preparing and working with the Montessori grammar farm!
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Great options that will fit any budget! The paper farm will be fun for older children – they’ll love crafting it.
Thank you for helping make Montessori more accessible to all families and teachers. Well done!
Thanks so much for your kind words, Jennifer! It really was a fun project. I’m not particularly crafty, and I had a great time with it. 🙂
Thank you so much! I have definitely pinned this for our farming unit. My father (almost 60) just gave me this beautiful wooden barn from when he was a little boy to use with the kids. I have plans to paint it and get it ready for our farm unit, along with all of our farm animals, however I hadn’t figured out how to apply it to my oldest kiddos who will be in 1st and second grade at the time. This will be PERFECT! Thank you so much for not only posting about Montessori Preschool Activities, but activities for the elementary years as well. I look forward to them and tend to use many of them!
Thanks, Renae! What a wonderful keepsake from your father! I’m so glad this will work well for your oldest kids. 🙂
I am adding this to our “To Make Strait Away” List! Thank you for the TOOBS recommendation.
Thanks, Autumn! I’m so glad this was helpful. 🙂
Hmmm – that gave me a great idea for my little guy. Thanks Deb!
Thanks, Rebecca! My pleasure … I’m glad my post helped. 🙂
I love this idea- it makes the grammar farm seem so accessible and doable to the average parent. Thank you so much for linking up to Discover & Explore this week!