Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Montessori-Inspired Lamb Activities Using Free Printables

By Deb Chitwood from Living Montessori Now 

I never realized how versatile a lamb theme was until I started searching for free lamb printables. I have a post at Living Montessori Now with free lamb printables for preschoolers through first graders. It includes printables for "Mary Had a Little Lamb," March's "in like a lion, out like a lamb," lamb as a farm animal, and even lamb used in a Christian context. 

Free Lamb Printables and Montessori-Inspired Lamb Activities


You'll find many activities for preschoolers through first graders throughout the year along with presentation ideas in my previous posts at PreK + K Sharing. You'll also find ideas for using free printables to create activity trays here: How to Use Printables to Create Montessori-Inspired Activities

At Living Montessori Now, I have a post with resource links of Free Printables for Montessori Homeschools and Preschools

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

Shelves with Lamb-Themed Activities

Montessori Shelves with a Lamb Theme  

My shelves with lamb-themed activities include a free hand-painted printable sheep culture card designed by The Montessori Company. You’ll also find Montessori-inspired lamb numbers and letters (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber) 

The books on my shelves include Mary Had a Little Lamb with illustrations by Tomie dePaola (see information below), Seasons on the Farm (another book from when my children were little), and Animals Born Alive and Well (another good book from my children's childhood). Note: It now has a different illustration on the cover. 

You could mix your lamb-themed activities among your shelves according to curriculum area. Or you could have a special lamb area something like the one pictured. This has a mixture of skill levels. If you’re a homeschooler, just choose the activities that work for your child’s interests and ability levels. If you don’t have room for all the activities you’d like to do, just rotate them. 

Sheep Culture Card

Sheep Culture Card with Mary Had a Little Lamb Book
I was happy to receive a lovely hand-painted sheep culture card from The Montessori Company. You can use it on your shelves to introduce a sheep or lamb theme. I’m hosting the free printable as an instant download at Living Montessori Now. You can always access the free sheep culture card here

The description says: “Sheep graze the grasslands and generate natural wool. A young sheep is called a lamb.” 

This classic Mary Had a Little Lamb with illustrations by Tomie dePaola was a well-loved book from when my now-adult children were little. I’ve always enjoyed books illustrated by Tomie dePaola. Fortunately, many of his books are still in print. Unfortunately, Mary Had a Little Lamb illustrated by Tomie dePaola is out of print, although there are many fun book versions of Mary Had a Little Lamb that are still available.

Mary Had a Little Lamb Puzzle Mary Had a Little Lamb Puzzle 

Free Printable: Mary Had a Little Lamb Puzzle from Mary Had a Little Lamb Pack (Tot Pack) from 3 Dinosaurs 

For this activity, I simply used a Montessori Services basket and the puzzle pieces. 

For a younger child, you could copy the page twice and have one copy (not cut apart) on the tray to help the child assemble the puzzle. For children who are a bit older but have some difficulty with puzzles, you could help them understand what to look for, such as, "Can you find the pieces of Mary's head?" 

Admiring Her Completed Mary Had a Little Lamb Puzzle
Admiring Her Completed Mary Had a Little Lamb Puzzle

Handbells with Note Cards and "Mary Had a Little Lamb" Sheet Music Handbells with Note Cards and Mary Had a Little Lamb Sheet Music Free Printable: Mary Had a Little Lamb Piano or Boomwhacker by Susan Hong Studio at Teachers Pay Teachers (Note: I printed this at 50% to have plenty of room on the tray.) 

Free Printable: Colored Music Note Cards from Imagine Our Life 

For this activity, I used a multicraft tray, small tabletop easels with the printables, and the C, D, E, and G of the preschool handbell set

Letter L Object Basket 

Having Fun with Letter L Object Basket
Having Fun with Letter L Object Basket

Free Printable: Lamb Letters for Letter L Object Basket (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber) 

Some of the objects are ones I had at home (such as Safari Ltd. TOOB objects and a miniature lamb from a Nativity set), although many are from Montessori Services (they have individual phonetic objects or a whole set available.

My granddaughter always loves the object baskets. She thought it was especially fun to put the lemon on the lamb's head!

If you'd like ideas for teaching phonics, check out my DIY Beginning Montessori Phonics post.

Lion and Lamb Squeeze Number Game Lion and Lamb Squeeze Number Game  

Free Printable: Lion & Lamb Squeeze Number Game by Over the MoonBow at Teachers Pay Teachers 

This activity was super-easy to prepare. I used a multicraft tray and the pieces from the printable. 

You'll find directions for playing the game in the printable. You can have your number line from 1-10, 1-20, or 1-30. Mine is folded so you can't see the entire number line in the photo, but it's for 1-20. 

March I Have Who Has Sight Word Game March I Have Who Has Sight Word Game Free Printable: March I Have Who Has Sight Word Game by Jill Gillen at Teachers Pay Teachers 

For this activity, I used a basket I had and the printable. 

This is another activity that was super easy to prepare. Games like this one are especially popular in both classrooms and homeschools. Children have a chance to socialize while still learning. I like to use games cooperatively whenever possible. This game is a great one for being fun and engaging while practicing an important reading skill.

More Free Lamb Printables

Go to my post at Living Montessori Now for links to free lamb printables from around the blogosphere: Free Lamb Printables and Montessori-Inspired Lamb Activities. And be sure to subscribe to my email list if you'd like to get an exclusive free printable each month (plus two more awesome freebies right away): Free Printables.

More Farm Animal Activities at Living Montessori Now

Montessori at Home or School - How to Teach Grace and Courtesy eBookIf you'd like to focus on manners with children, please check out my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to Teach Grace and Courtesy! It's written for anyone who'd like to feel comfortable teaching manners to children ages 2-12. I'm also one of the coauthors of the book Learn with Play – 150+ Activities for Year-round Fun & Learning!

I hope you find the lamb printables and activities useful!

Deb - Siganture
Deb Chitwood
Deb Chitwood is a certified Montessori teacher with a master’s degree in Early Childhood Studies from Sheffield Hallam University in Sheffield, England. Deb taught in Montessori schools in Iowa and Arizona before becoming owner/director/teacher of her own Montessori school in South Dakota. Later, she homeschooled her two children through high school. Deb is now a Montessori writer who lives in San Diego with her husband of 41 years (and lives in the city where her kids, kids-in-law, and 3-year-old granddaughter live). She blogs at Living Montessori Now.

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