Living Montessori Now

Montessori Inspiration for Parents and Teachers

Make Fossils from Montessori at Home!

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I love Montessori-Inspired dinosaur activities, and John Bowman’s Montessori at Home eBook (3rd edition) has a whole section on dinosaurs.

Make Fossils from Montessori at Home!

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

Here’s an excerpt of part of the Montessori at Home dinosaur section:

Make Fossils

Safari Ancient Fossils ToobFossils are how we get in touch with creatures from long ago, so why not make some? A Safari Ancient Fossils TOOB  or a pack of plastic bugs from a discount or toy store, plus some Play Doh® will get your child’s fossil explorations started.

Finding Ancient Fossils (Photo from Chasing Cheerios)Hide the insects or play fossils in a bowl of beans for your budding paleontologist to find, as in the photo at left. Later, you can do more elaborate digs outside in a tub full of dirt or sand.

Photo: Chasing Cheerios

Bugging Me Fossils (Photo from The Education of Ours)Press plastic insects down into Play Doh sheets, cut into separate ‘fossils’, and let the impressions harden overnight. Try different colors of Play Doh. Make name cards for the insects to add language. You could make a hole in each and make a string of fossils.

Photo: The Education of Ours

Fossil cookies are always a big hit. At Fossil Cookies (Photo from Chasing Cheerios)Chasing Cheerios (photo), they used a simple cookie recipe and Play Doh stampers. You could also used well washed sea shells, plastic dinosaurs, or plastic insects.

Photo: Chasing Cheerios

More fossil cookies at Homemade Mamas

Dig It Up Excavation Kit - Tyrannasaurus RexThe Dig it Up Excavation Kit – Tyrannosaurus Rex can be fun for a child who is seriously into dinosaurs. $12.95 on Amazon.

Dig out a virtual fossil online

Bake a fossil cake 


Dinosaur Cards (Photo from Counting Coconuts)
Dinosaur Pin Poking (Photo from Counting Coconuts)

Washing a Dinosaur (Photo from Counting Coconuts)


Montessori style, self-contained dinosaur materials from Counting Coconuts. Free Dinosaur information cards from Montessori Print Shop. [Middle photo]: Punching dinosaur outlines with a pushpin. Your child can cut these with scissors if she is ready. Get free dinosaur, and other, outlines at Enchanted Learning. [Bottom photo] Cleaning a dinosaur.

These are great examples of creating language, fine motor, and Practical Life materials around a theme. You can do the same with many themes – holidays, other animals, plants, family trips, almost any subject your child is interested in.

Excerpt used with permission of John Bowman.

John Bowman’s Montessori at Home eBook (available exclusively as part of the Montessori at Home eBook and Materials Bundle in the Living Montessori Now shop) is filled with amazing ideas for families.

The Montessori at Home! eBook and Materials Bundle Available Exclusively on Living Montessori Now!

Montessori at Home! eBook and Materials Bundle Available at Living Montessori Now

You can get a free download of 51 sample pages from Montessori at Home eBook by clicking here! (This includes information on John’s simplified Montessori reading sequence.)

Here’s the direct link to the purchase page for the Montessori at Home! Materials Bundle,which includes the Montessori at Home eBook AND over $60 worth of Montessori Print Shop materials to go with the book (now only $14.95)!

Here’s the list of 21 printable Montessori materials included in the bundle:
  1. Phases of the Moon (3-part cards & chart)
  2. Animals of the Continents
  3. Continents 3-Part Cards
  4. Land & Water Form Photo Book
  5. World – Control Maps, Masters and Labels
  6. Moveable Alphabet – Print – (includes full instructions)
  7. Sentence Cards – Step 1 – Set 1
  8. Word and Picture Cards – Step 1 – Read Pictures
  9. 1-100 Math Series
  10. Geometric Matching Cards
  11. Geometric Solids 3-Part Cards – Blue
  12. Skeleton Nomenclature Cards
  13. Tree Nomenclature Cards
  14. Phonics Sound and Picture Sorting
  15. Association of Objects
  16. What Does Not Belong
  17. The Five Senses
  18. Plant or Animal?
  19. Animals and Their Names
  20. Color Grading Cards
  21. Metal Insets – Shape Outlines

Excerpts and Activities from the Montessori at Home eBook

you can read all the excerpts from the book that I’ve shared here at Living Montessori Now:

Activities with Marbles and Golf Tees from Montessori at Home!

Activities with Marbles and Golf Tees from Montessori at Home!

Building a Flashlight and Pipe Building from Montessori at Home

Building a Flashlight and Pipe Building from Montessori at Home!

1000-10,000 Activity from Montessori at Home!

1000-10,000 Activity from Montessori at Home!

Make Fossils from Montessori at Home!

Make Fossils from Montessori at Home! Cutting with a Knife from Montessori at Home Cutting with a Knife from Montessori at Home!

Free Play Tubs (Sensory Bins) from Montessori at Home!

Free Play Tubs (Sensory Bins) from Montessori at Home!

Create an Attractive Home Environment from Montessori at Home!

Create an Attractive Home Environment from Montessori at Home!

Concentration and Normalization from Montessori at Home

 Concentration and Normalization from Montessori at Home

How to Prepare a Montessori Jar for Meaningful Preschool Activities at Home

How to Prepare a Montessori Jar for Meaningful Preschool Activities at Home (an activity prepared using one of the book’s printables)

Allow Time for Repetition and Concentration from Montessori at Home!

Allow Time for Repetition and Concentration from Montessori at Home!

Activities Using Some of the Montessori Print Shop Materials from the Montessori at Home eBook and Materials Bundle

Here are activities I published using just 4 of the 21 Montessori Print Shop materials from the Montessori at Home eBook and Materials Bundle:

Montessori-Inspired Phases of the Moon Playdough Tray

Montessori-Inspired Phases of the Moon Playdough Tray

Easy-to-Prepare Montessori Animals of the Continents Activity

Easy-to-Prepare Montessori Animals of the Continents Activity

Extending Montessori Animals of the Continents Work

Extending Montessori Animals of the Continents Work

Hands-on Fun with Montessori-Inspired Human Skeleton Activities

Hands-on Fun with Montessori-Inspired Human Skeleton Activities

Seashell Color Matching {Easy-to-Prepare Variation of Montessori Color Box 3}

Seashell Color Matching {Easy-to-Prepare Variation of Montessori Color Box 3}

Again, John Bowman’s Montessori at Home eBook is available exclusively as part of the Montessori at Home eBook and Materials Bundle in the Living Montessori Now shop!

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

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Shaunna says

    This is a great collection of activities. Thank you for sharing in the Discover & Explore linky. I’m featuring this post today on Fantastic Fun and Learning.

  5. Beth says

    So many fun fossil ideas- love it! Did you see our 3D plaster of paris ones we made a couple weeks ago? My son put it up in his room as a work of art =) Who knew fossils were art!

    Thanks for linking up to TGIF! Hope to see you linked up again today =)

    Have a great weekend,
    Beth =)

  6. Stephanie says

    I love this idea! Thanks for sharing! I would like to invite you to come link up this post on my Money Saving Monday Link Up.

    Stephanie
    lifesallaboutlittleadventures.blogspot.com

  11. Frances says

    You’re a genius!!! Little one and I recently visited a children’s museum, and they had an excavation/fossil area. Needless to say, my son loved it!!! I even bought dinosaur skeletons for him…. now I can make a fossil for him with play dough. Thank you for the wonderful idea!

    • Deb says

      Thanks, Frances! Actually, John Bowman, Chasing Cheerios, The Education of Ours, and Counting Coconuts are the geniuses, since these are their activities and ideas. So much fun to put together, though! 🙂

    • Deb says

      Thanks, John! I love dinosaur activities in general, and I really appreciate your permission to use this great excerpt! (I noticed that my dinosaur-loving son-in-law “liked” this post on Facebook.) 🙂

  13. Valerie says

    Deb, I cannot tell you how much I look forward to Mondays. I am always agreeably surprised by your choice of topic for your post. Dinosaurs will be part of our May unit at Sorting Sprinkles so this was such a wealth of info for me. And thank you so much for featuring us again on Facebook with our Trains Mini-Unit. By the way, I am glad your wrist is healing well and that surgery was relatively “easy”. 🙂

    • Deb says

      Thanks so much for your kind comment, Valerie! And I’m glad this comes at the right time for you! 🙂