Montessori-Inspired Little Passports Activities – Thailand

Happy Songkran (Thai New Year)! April 13 is also the official day of my Living Montessori Now 6th blogiversary!

Thailand is the third package of the year-two Little Passports World Edition Subscription. If you’d like some supplemental activities, you’re in luck! Today, I’m going to share some Montessori-inspired activities that work well with the Little Passports Thailand package.

Disclosure: I’m an affiliate for Little Passports and, as an ambassador, I received a 2-year subscription to the World Edition of Little Passports. I have posts for each of the year-one packages with Montessori-inspired activities featuring Little Passports. Periodically, I’ll be sharing posts for the year-two packages. This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you. Of course, all opinions are my own.

Here are my previous Montessori-inspired Little Passports posts:

1. Montessori-Inspired Little Passports Global Adventure (which contained the Little Passports suitcase, passport, and world map used each month along with a letter from Sam and Sofia, activity sheet, stickers, and a boarding pass with access to online games and activities)
2. Montessori-Inspired Little Passports Activities – Brazil
3. Montessori-Inspired Little Passports Activities – Japan
4. Montessori-Inspired Little Passports Activities – France
5. Montessori-Inspired Little Passports Activities – Egypt
6. Montessori-Inspired Little Passports Activities – Australia
7. Montessori-Inspired Little Passports Activities – Mexico
8. Montessori-Inspired Little Passports Activities – South Africa
9. Montessori-Inspired Little Passports Activities – India
10. Montessori-Inspired Little Passports Activities – England
11. Montessori-Inspired Little Passports Activities – China
12. Montessori-Inspired Little Passports Activities – Argentina
13. Montessori-Inspired Little Passports Activities – Russia
14. Montessori-Inspired Little Passports Activities – Israel
15. Using Little Passports Early Explorers with a Montessori-Inspired Approach
16. Montessori-Inspired Little Passports Early Explorers Activities – Landmarks
17. Montessori-Inspired Little Passports Early Explorers Activities – Music

The Little Passports materials could work especially well for afterschooling, in a Montessori homeschool with children of multiple ages, or for summer learning. The World Edition is a monthly subscription recommended for ages 5-10. A total of 24 different adventures are available in the series. I’m sharing activities that would allow multiple ages to join in the adventures.

Contents of the Little Passports Thailand Package:

Contents of the Little Passports Thailand Package

• A letter from Sam and Sophia, your child’s travel companions. This adds interest to a world study for a wide range of ages.
• Souvenirs themed around the chosen country. This month’s souvenir is a rubber bracelet like the ones people wear in Thailand.
• An activity sheet for the country. This will generally be best for 5-10 year olds.
• A picture from the country. This month’s picture is of Sam and Sophia in Thailand.
  Picture of a Uakari Monkey
  Picture of a Uakari Monkey
  Picture of a Uakari Monkey
• A passport stamp.
• A map marker.
• A sticker for the suitcase.
• A “boarding pass” for access to online content about the country. This month’s boarding pass has a map activity with a tour of Thailand (which includes a printable photo album), Thailand Fishing Game, and Thailand Elephant Feeding Game. The online activities are recommended for ages 5-10, although many preschoolers could be included in online activities for Thailand. I would definitely print out the pages for each Little Passports country as a way to reinforce what’s learned about each country.

Following are some suggestions on how you can make Little Passports Montessori inspired and have it work for multiple ages at home.

If you sign up for a subscription, you could do activities related to the month’s package and then focus on the continent box for the continent of the next package’s country. I recommend focusing on the continent for the next country you’ll be receiving when your children are finished with the focus of their present package (maybe two weeks with the package’s country and then start focusing on the continent for the next country.)

Map Work

The first package had a global focus, so you could have done any sort of continent map work in connection with the first package. After that, it’s best if your children have a chance to work with related Montessori continent box materials before the country package arrives. For the Thailand package, I’d recommend reviewing the Asia continent box before and after working with the Thailand package. (See Montessori-Inspired Continent Activities with Animal Figures and Landmarks – Asia.)

Map Unfolding and Folding and Country Matching Activity

I have examples of this activity for a number of Little Passports posts, so I’m not showing the latest variation for Thailand. Here’s an example you can use to set up a similar activity: Montessori-Inspired Little Passports Activities – Mexico.

Water Balloon Fun

Because of the focus on throwing water balloons in the Thai New Year Festival (talked about in the letter from Sam and Sofia), don’t miss out on some fun and gross-motor activities with water balloons!

Montessori-Inspired Elephant Activities

Elephants are loved and given a place of importance in Thailand (as Sam and Sofia talked about in their letter), so I put together some easily prepared activities focusing on elephants. Children will have learned about African elephants in their previous study of Africa, and this is a great time to talk about the differences between African and Asian elephants.

Elephant Color and Number Activities for Preschoolers

Elephant Color Matching Tray

Granted, we usually use photographs or realistic images in Montessori. But I think different colors of elephants are a fun way to focus on colors with preschoolers during a unit on Thailand. I used the free elephant color sort game from Preschool Post along with the free printable color matching cards (can be used as DIY Montessori color tablets) from Montessori Print Shop. You could also print out two sets of the colored elephants if you prefer rather than matching the elephants to the color tablets.

Even though elephants don’t normally come in primary- and secondary colors, this activity does use the Montessori principle of isolation of quality (only the color changes, not the number, shape, or size). And it’s a fun way to start talking with preschoolers about what’s real and what isn’t. They typically think it’s fun to talk about how silly it is to have green elephants. 🙂

Elephant Color and Counting Cards or Book

For children who have a fairly good understanding of colors and numbers, you could introduce this activity, which includes colors and numbers in the same activity. While there isn’t isolation of quality, this is a fun activity for children who wouldn’t be confused by combining the colors and numbers within the same activity. It uses the free elephant counting and colors mini book by MsJBird at Teachers Pay Teachers. First, your child could match the colored elephants to the color tablets. Then you could assemble the pages into a book for your child to count and identify the colors of the elephants. For the book, you can even add the page with 10 rainbow elephants!

 Elephant Classification Bookmaking Tray

Elephant Classification Bookmaking Tray

This activity would be a wonderful extension to the Montessori animal classification work preschoolers do in Montessori education. It uses a page from the free printable elephants animal study and lapbook by Pamela Johnson and Ami at Homeschool Share.

Elephant Printable Work for 5-10 Year Olds

Elephant Printables for Ages 5-10

The photo on the tabletop easel is from the Little Passports Thailand online map activities, which can be printed. You could add whatever printables you want your child to focus on. I used printables from the free printable elephants animal study and lapbook by Pamela Johnson and Ami at Homeschool Share and the free Asian elephant notebooking page from Write Bonnie Rose.

Other Thailand Activities

You could make bookmarks and map and flag work similar to the activities in my Argentina post, a capital city and flag tray similar to the one in my China post, and/or flag jigsaw puzzle and other flag activities similar to ones in my England posts. Have fun studying Thailand! 🙂

Montessori-Inspired Global Adventure Pinterest Board and Related Continent Resource Boards

More about Little Passports

You can sign up for 3 months ($13.95/month with a one-time payment of $41.85), 6 months ($13.95/month with a one-time payment of $83.70), 12 months ($10.95/month with a one-time payment of $131.40), or monthly ($11.95/month, billed monthly and can be cancelled any time).

Every month after the first month, your child will visit 2 new states and receive:

• A 32-page activity-packed journal covering 2 states
• Stickers
• Pop-out Models
• Postcards
• Access to more information and activities online

You can find out more and subscribe at Little Passports.

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.

If this is your first time visiting Living Montessori Now, welcome! If you haven’t already, please join us on our Living Montessori Now Facebook page where you’ll find a Free Printable of the Day and lots of inspiration and ideas for parenting and teaching! And please follow me on Pinterest (lots of Montessori-, holiday-, and theme-related boards), Instagram, and YouTube. You can find me on bloglovin’ and Twitter, too.

And don’t forget one of the best ways to follow me by signing up for my weekly newsletter. You’ll receive some awesome freebies in the process!