It always seems like spring is the season we are most ready for before it arrives. Hoping to leave Midwest winter weather behind and looking forward to more sunny days always inspires me to start putting together some spring shelf activities. As my boys have both grown (24 months and 3.5 years old), I’ve been looking for Montessori-inspired shelf activities that they both can independently access.
Sometimes finding options for both of them is as simple as a small change or addition so that an activity can meet both of their needs, abilities, and interests. Sometimes no change is needed and they both can equally enjoy the activity and sometimes I put together a few separate activities for each of them based on where they’re at individually. These Montessori inspired spring activities include a mix of all of those options and have worked well for us with a toddler and preschooler. Hope they help to share some new ideas!
Play Dough and Spring Animals
-DIY play dough (we used MotherCould’s recipe) and Safari Ltd. bird figures with Schleich fawn and lamb figures
Farm Babies Matching
–Safari Ltd. Farm Babies TOOB set and matching cards. These Montessori-inspired matching cards are available for a free download in the resource library and they include a set of the identical TOOB object pictures and real photos of the actual baby animals. To get the free download, head on over to my subscription page or use the form below. Signing up will give you access to the free printables library!
Spring Eraser Sorting
–Mini spring erasers, 3-compartment sorting tray, and photos printed to match and sort the erasers into each compartment
Fine Motor Work with Spring Stamps
–Self-inking spring stamps and lines and empty circles drawn on paper for Aiden (24 months) to stamp on
Montessori Inspired Flower Arranging
-Fake flowers and a container with some play dough on the bottom (to help toddlers with holding the flowers in place as they work on practical life skills) A lid stays on the container when not in use so the play dough doesn’t dry out.
Gluing Activity (for Toddlers)
-Tiny paper flowers (from this flower punch) and paper butterflies for gluing practice. A great level of independence and interest for Aiden at 24 months.
Gluing and Punching Activity (for Preschoolers)
–Small flower paper punch, tiny bowl to collect paper flowers, paper strips for paper puncher, paper frogs, and glue stick. Asher has been mainly using this at our house. Some toddlers may enjoy it too, but the paper punch has been too tricky for Aiden still.
-Dot art painting templates from The Resourceful Mama and Dot Art Paint Markers
Spring Sticking and Peeling Activity
–Spring window clings, bowl or basket to hold and present them in, and a mini dry erase board. A favorite Montessori-inspired peeling activity here! I also set up a second identical tray but it has Easter gel clings. The boys use both trays and Asher enjoys making scenes with the clings.
Spring Sticker Activity
-Half sheets of paper and spring sticker sheets with the background peeled off (my favorite trick for making stickers more accessible and independent for toddlers in the beginning!)
Montessori Inspired Pin Punching
–Small pin punching tool, piece of cork board cut down to size, and printed picture of spring objects (I used pictures at first that were just connected dots for more guidance on where to punch, but now that Asher has done a few of these I use lines. Also- safety first! This activity is specifically for Asher (almost 4). He has done this work multiple times, but I always supervise when he asks to work on it. It goes up on a shelf where Aiden cannot reach it when not directly in use.
Mother and Baby Animal Matching Cards
-DIY Matching cards set for mother and baby animals, available for a free download in my free resource library! You can access it by signing up below and the password for the library will be emailed to you. This is a great opportunity to build in new vocabulary for toddlers and preschoolers!
Animal Matching Cards with Letter Sounds
-Mother and baby animal matching cards and Montessori sandpaper letters (Another Montessori-inspired way we use the animal matching cards for both boys. Aiden matches the mom and baby, and Asher works on matching each animal to its beginning letter sound. They also love to hide the cards and have matching scavenger hunts with them!)
Spring Pattern Blocks
–Pattern blocks, laminated spring pattern block mats from My Little Teaching World, dry erase marker for tallying numbers of shapes used
Spring Books and Finger Puppets
–Touch and Feel Farm Book (other spring books would probably work well too!), animal finger puppets that go along with the book
Matching Pop-Up Eggs
–Matching egg set (Aiden loved these as a baby, is enjoying them now as a toddler, and Asher still loves to match them up at almost 4!)
Montessori Inspired DIY Color-Matching Eggs
-White or natural wooden eggs, egg crate, paint, tape for paint lines (if you’re Type A like me and need straight lines)
Spring Drawing and Coloring
–Wonder Stix (pastel colored and so pretty for spring, wipe off of everything so easily), mini dry erase board, cloth for wiping the board clean
Easter Egg Quantity and Number Recognition Activity
-Plastic Easter eggs, mini spring erasers, and small paper squares with numbers to fit in the eggs (For this Montessori-inspired spring activity, Asher opens an egg, sees which number is in there, and then fills that egg with that amount of mini erasers before closing it back up.)
Spring-Themed Symmetry Cutting
–Preschool scissors, hand-drawn halves of symmetrical shapes, and glue stick and paper for creating picture scenes with the cutouts
Spring Sing-Alongs
-Super cute spring sing along songs from Our Montessori Journey (free download) and percussion egg. This one has been loved by both of the boys!
These are some of the Montessori inspired spring activities that are and will be on our shelves this spring season. I usually rotate these about every two weeks and think about what activities I’ve observed the boys having the most interest in. These have provided great options so that each of the boys can choose activities that they love to do independently or together. What are some of the spring activities that you’re planning to do with your kids?
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