Gather Resources & Tools for Spring Learning

Look no further! Check out loads of Montessori spring-themed printables, activities & resources!

Montessori Services Spring Themed Materials

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Montessori in the Classroom Tagged With: Deals, Spring This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Montessori Services is one of my go-to resources for Montessori materials. You can shop by category, including areas of the classroom, Montessori at Home, sale items, and by age, or by collection, including Made in the USA, books by Montessorians, teacher favorites, and seasonal items such as these Montessori Services spring themed materials.

In this post, I am highlighting Montessori spring items offered on Montessori Services! Don't stop there, though, Montessori Services always offers loads of on sale items, too.

Why I Love Montessori Services

in 1976, Jane Mills Campbell, an AMI-trained Montessori teacher, founded Montessori Services in Pennsylvania. The initial goal of Montessori Services is to bring hard-to-find, child-size Practical Life materials into the classroom. Of course, now over 40 years later, the company offers an extensive catalog of products well beyond Practical Life, an area that continues to be their bread and butter. Montessori Services continues to make it easy and cost-effective to find the specialized items used in the Montessori classroom.

In 2004, Montessori Services began to focus on providing Montessori resources to families and parents wanting to bring Montessori into their home learning environment. Thus came the creation of For Small Hands.

Montessori Services offers a variety of authentic Montessori related products across a wide range of topical areas and ages. Plus, their customer service is fantastic.

Montessori Services Spring Materials

Soda Bottle Bird Feeder

Such a clever and easy to put together an activity for preschoolers.

Build a Birdfeeder

My boys LOVE this project. Perfect for woodworking with kids and learning about birds.

Bird Fandex

So much information and detail plus beautiful images of birds. Kids will not get enough of these cards.

Planter Maker Set

This set is perfect for little hands and engaging outdoor learning activity. You can do this planter project on your own but this set makes it quite easy to execute.

Reusing and Recycling Children's Book

It's never too early to get children thinking about how to help our environment. Earth Day provides a great opportunity to introduce this big topic.

Composting Book for Kids

Teach kids about composting and watch their minds be blown away! This worm tower activity for kids is a fun one to introduce the concept of composting, too.

Butterfly Garden

Such a fun long term learning project that requires observation and patience as the caterpillars transform into butterflies.

Flower Arranger Set

Spring Tea Book

I love this book! It provides a fantastic visual for kids to prepare their own springtime tea. In addition, this book makes for a great spring themed Practical Life activity!

Grow a Garden Book

How Fruits & Vegetables Grow Set

Plants We Eat Booklets

Life Cycle of Worms

Garden Tote & Tools

Child Sized Watering Can

Four Seasons Book Set

Earth Day Book

Flag of the Earth

Puzzle of the Earth

Pledge to the Earth

This little gem is a beautiful addition to a child's spring themed shelves.

Montessori Monthly Themes: Amazing, Fun, & Easy to Do

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Activities, Montessori in the Home Tagged With: Fall, Holidays, Monthly Themes, Seasons, Spring, Summer, Winter This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

This page includes Montessori monthly themes for preschoolers including Montessori Activities by Season and Montessori Activities by Holiday. I hope this content helps you create amazing Montessori Monthly Lesson Plans! My goal is to add to this monthly content so that you have dozens of Montessori theme ideas for each month of the year!

Montessori Month by Month Curriculum

The child's development follows a path of successive stages of independence, and our knowledge of this must guide us in our behaviour towards him. We have to help the child to act, will and think for himself. This is the art of serving the spirit, an art which can be practised to perfection only when working among children. – Dr. Maria Montessori

Montessori Winter Activities

It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam. This crisp winter air is full of it. ~John Burroughs, “Winter Sunshine”

Montessori New Years Activities

Montessori Martin Luther King Jr. Activities

Montessori Valentine's Day Activities

Montessori St. Patrick's Day Activities

Montessori Earth Day Activities

Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of each. – Henry David Thoreau

Montessori Spring Themed Activities

Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own. – Charles Dickens

Montessori Mother's Day Themed Activities

Montessori Memorial Day Themed Activities

Montessori Father's Day Themed Activities

Montessori Summer Themed Activities

Montessori July 4th Themed Activities

Montessori Fall Themed Activities

Unique Montessori Spring Shelf Ideas

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Montessori Lessons Tagged With: Seasons, Shelf Work, Spring This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Spring is a time for refreshing pretty much everything in life! How often do you switch up your Montessori shelves? By season? By theme?

I am always curious and it always amazes me how suddenly children – with a little freshening up of the shelves – re-engage in the works.

Below are five Montessori Spring Shelf ideas to get you inspired in creating your spring shelves in your Montessori environment!

{Check out my Spring Activities Pack!}

Montessori Spring Shelf Ideas

Spring Scene

I purchased four small pieces of vintage artwork a few years ago. Each picture represents a season cast upon the same house and yard. Place a spring scene on a tray, give the children a prompt to write or to draw about the scene. This prompt leaves space for loads of creativity and imagination suited to the individual child.

Wildflower Research

We love this book as you can see by the worn edges! We leave it out for use at any moment. I challenge my boys to identify the wildflowers in our area. Leave this book on your spring shelves. Have the child choose one of the many flowers within these pages. From that point, invite the child to research the wildflower, trace, and draw the flower.

Trace a Robin

We love our robins here in the Pacific Northwest. Robin are survivors that adapt over the winter. I am always amazed by the survivors. As spring descends upon us, the robin come out in full force hunting for worms and other goodies to eat. I purchased several sets of these “Bit of Intelligence” cards covering a variety of topics. The back of the cards have all sorts of useful facts about the image. The cards are beautifully illustrated with great detail. The cards make for a perfect tracing work. Invite the child to trace (or to draw on her own) and color in the robin.

Spring Tweezing

Simple is best. Choose the colors of spring and create a sorting work to place on your spring shelves. These discs are wooden and a gorgeous color. Younger children can simply do a hand sort while the older children will be interested in tweezing the small discs.

Spring Pouring

An easy to put together intriguing pouring work for young children. The seeds not only make for interesting colors, textures, and shapes, they also make for a lovely sound when poured back and forth left to right in and out of the small jars.

One of our favorite art activities is a seed mosaic! We did one for Valentine's Day a few years ago. Parts of the Seed is also a fun activity for kids. If you need a wonderful book list, check out this list of children's books about seeds!

I hope you enjoyed these ideas!

Marnie

Fun, Beautiful Spring Flower Fractions Math Activity

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Activities Tagged With: Math, Seasons, Spring This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Why not put some fun into fractions? As I have expounded on in the past, math can start early in life and math doesn't have to be boring. You can take math learning outside and even give the math lesson a cool Star Wars theme.

Gasp!

Yes, hold onto your seats, folks. It is possible for kids to love math. Yup, I said it. Make the math activity concrete, beautiful, and fun. That's my top secret. Maria Montessori believes kids begin learning math concepts from extremely early on, like in then womb. True story.

“The child in the postnatal (or psychological) period of his embryonic life, absorbs from the world about him the distinctive patterns to which the social life of his group conforms….He absorbs in short, the mathematical part…..the little child’s need for order is one of the most powerful incentives to dominate his early life.” Dr. Montessori, The Absorbent Mind

Montessori Math Philosophy

Here are a few things Maria Montessori had to say about Math:

Our brains are naturally drawn to precision, to organize, to compare, to create order out of disorder, to classify and to quantify patterns and relationships.
Human beings are born with a propensity to naturally be driven to calculate, to reason and to create within their environments.
Guidance and a well-prepared environment are needed, or the capacity to perform such thinking is eventually lost.
A child’s environment & life experiences must lend to the innate mathematical mind.
Exposing a child to these concepts early in his life is vital to the later development of more complex math concepts.

Spring Fractions Math Activity

In the spirit of making math fun and attractive to kids, I created this Spring Fractions activity as part of my Spring Activities Bundle. Children color in the petals based on the fraction given on the page next to the flower.

“The focus is not on the answer – it’s on how your child gets the answer. This is contrary to the usual way we operate in the adult world, where results are the primary goal to be reached.” ~ Michael Duffy, Math Works

Download Spring Fractions for Free

Montessori Math Materials You Might Enjoy

Teach Your 3 to 7-Year-Old Math by John Bowman
Montessori Short Bead Chain
Montessori Math Activities from Montessori Services
Fraction Circles
Hundred Board
Card Counters

Enjoy!
Marnie

The BEST Life Cycle of a Frog Activities for Kids

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Activities, Science Tagged With: Kindergarten, Life Cycle Crafts, Life Science, Nature, Preschool, Spring, Zoology This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

We were thrilled to find tree frogspawn in our pond because learning about the life stages of a frog is a key point in a child's learning! The male frogs have been croaking up a storm in our forest in the evenings. The rhythm is beautiful but it sure does make me wonder where they all hide during the day. In other words, the chorus sounds like one of the thousands. I hope you enjoy these life cycle of a frog for kids activities! These tadpole life cycle activities are great for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners and even include a life cycle of a frog worksheet!

What is the Life Cycle of a Frog?

What are the 5 life stages of a frog? I thought it might be helpful to describe the life cycle of a tadpole.

Eggs {or Frogspawn} are tiny and laid in thousands typically in ponds or marshes.
Tadpoles hatch from the eggs and lives in the water using gills to breathe.
Tadpoles begin to develop legs at this time however it still lives and breathes in the water.
Froglets are almost mature and still has a tail, but now breaths with lungs.
Adult frogs have no tails (the tail is absorbed into the body) and continue to breathe with lungs.

Download Your FREE Life Cycle of a Frog Worksheet

Life Cycle of a Frog for Kids Activities

The frog eggs really are beautiful with their perfectly rounded black dots and their surrounding jelly sacs. Frogs lay their eggs so the sac attaches to a branch in our pond, which makes observing their growth all the more lovely.

Life Cycle of a Frog Video

My boys loved watching this video of a frog growing from egg to adult frog. Super cool!

Preschool Songs about Frogs

A classic song for kids!

The Little Green Frog song warms my heart and brings me right back to when my boys were small.

Children's Books for Learning about the Frog

Worksheets & Activities for Learning about the Frog

Habitat for your eggs or tadpoles
Pond or Find a Source (we collect eggs into jars to give to classrooms and friends to care for and to release)
Magnifying Glass for Kids
Life Cycle of a Frog Replicas
Tadpole/Frog Reversible Puppet
Five Little Speckled Frogs Felt Board and Song

Life Cycle of a Frog Craft

Materials:

Large paper plate
Small paper plate
Life cycle print out
Colored Pencils
Paper Hole Punch
Scissors
Markers

Life Cycle of a Frog Activities

Parts of the Frog Nomenclature Cards (free)
Frog Nomenclature Books (free)
Lily Pad Math by No Time for Flashcards
Paper Plate Lifecycle Craft (here is a free printable of the lifecycle stages)

Movement Activity with the child transforming from an egg to an adult frog
Frog Sequencing Cards
Picture to Object Matching Work
Simple Observation of a tadpole to adult frog
Drawing & Coloring Observations
Use Montessori Zoology Puzzle to trace, pin poke, and color the parts of a frog.

Have fun!
Marnie

30 Spring Activities for Preschoolers

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Montessori Tagged With: Seasons, Spring This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

The first day of spring is quickly approaching! I hear birds and see blossoms here in Seattle. Growing up in Maine, I remember hearing icicles crashing and puddles galore as signs that spring was on its way. Spring is a time for celebration. This post includes spring activities for preschoolers

Spring Activities for Preschoolers

The first day of spring is also known as the Vernal Equinox: “The word equinox is derived from the Latin words meaning “equal night.” Days and nights are approximately equal everywhere and the Sun rises and sets due east and west.” (Source: Old Farmer's Almanac)

“April hath put a spirit of youth in everything. (Sonnet XCVIII)”

Craft a Walking Stick like on Crafting Connections & Go on Nature Walk
Go on a Color Hunt
Create a Spring Garden Sensory Tub
Go on a Listening Walk to Hear the Sounds of Spring
Visit a Plant Nursery
Use all Your Senses to Go on a Signs of Spring Walk
Start a Nature Journal like this gorgeous journal from Oh, Pioneer! or this one from Donna Young
Collect Sticks and Create a Stick Craft like on Red Ted Art's Blog
Go on an Egg Sound Hunt
Create a Nature Collage Texture Table
Introduce the Passage of Time (e.g. the Seasons) to your Preschoolers
Do an Art Project Outdoors
Listen to Birds and See if You Can Identify their Songs by Checking the USGS's Bird Sounds resource
Learn about Hummingbirds with Catherine Sill's lovely book About Hummingbirds: A Guide for Children
Celebrate Vernal Equinox
Create a Nature Light Catcher like on Still Parenting
Create a Nature Basket for Your Child's Space
Go on a Spring Photo Hunt like on Housing a Forest
Sing Songs about Spring
Plant a Seed & Observe/Measure it's Growth
Try to Identify Tree Barks
Build a Newspaper Pot
Start Planning a Garden with your Kids
Write a Nature Poem inspired by Jessica Lynette by Going on a Walk & Seeking Words with Your Children
Create and Investigate a Nature Box inspired by An Everyday Story
Create an Herb Fairy
Read Books Outside
Go on a Nature Treasure Hunt like on Little Wonders' Days
Eat a Whole Plant {seed, stem, flower, roots, leaves)
Pack away your winter clothes

I hope you enjoyed this list. If you need more check out these Pinterest Boards for inspiration:

Nature Activities for Kids
Spring Activities for Kids & Families
Earth Day Activity for Kids

So tell me, how do you celebrate with your family or students? Do you have any traditions to share with us? Leave a comment! I love hearing from you!
Marnie