Our construction unit has been so much fun! It’s an adaptable theme, and all my grandkids have had a great time with it. As usual, the free construction do-a-dot printable for the unit is an instant download, versatile, and super easy to prepare.
Note: Be sure to read to the bottom of the post where you’ll find lots of ideas for using do-a-dot printables along with at least one free do-a-dot printable for each letter of the alphabet!
Montessori-Inspired Printables at Living Montessori Now
My daughter, Chrissy (a former Montessori child), and I are partnering to bring you a series of Montessori-inspired printables. The printables are typically themed and use a number of Montessori principles (although you don’t need to be a Montessori teacher or homeschooler to use them):
- They use isolation of quality.
- They use photographs or realistic images to emphasize reality. Whenever I can, I’ll tell you the specific name of the object or animal featured on the credits page. This month’s do-a-dot printable has a photograph of a construction site with construction workers laying new asphalt road pavement.
- They typically use traditional Montessori colors such as red for consonants and blue for vowels.
- They use lowercase letters, which are what we introduce letter sounds with in Montessori education. (Children tend to pick up the uppercase letters without being introduced if they’re introduced to the lowercase letter sounds.)
- They often feature themed printable versions of Montessori materials.
Free Construction Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable
To download the construction do-a-dot phonics printables, click here and then click on the file image in the upper right corner of the PDF to save to your computer (just choose where you want it saved).
Montessori-Inspired Activities Using the Construction Do-a-Dot Printable
Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links (at no cost to you).
Construction Do-a-Dot Phonics Tray with Construction Stickers
Construction Do-a-Dot Phonics Tray with Construction Sticker Work
Stickers are an especially fun activity for toddlers, and they’re great for fine-motor development. Because of the fascination Caleb (Chrissy’s son) has with construction, I couldn’t resist these construction stickers. They’re ¾” stickers designed for the bottoms of Hershey’s Kisses, which is the perfect size for the do-a-dot pages. For interest, I added a construction worker from this set. These community helpers are extremely popular with all my grandkids!
Of course, you can use a variety of tools for transfer activities, such as quick sticks, sugar tongs, or toast tongs. I used a wooden Multicraft tray for the activity.
You can add erasable crayons or markers to a laminated page for preschoolers to work on tracing skills. I don’t have my 2½-year-old grandkids trace letters or numbers except with their fingers. I just showed how I place colored pencils on the tray for children who are ready for tracing work. If you laminate your printable, you can use an erasable crayon like the Melissa & Doug Learning Mat Crayons or Crayola Erasable Crayons. If your page isn’t laminated, you could add a pencil or colored pencils. I often do that. If you only have a 2-year-old or other young preschooler who’s not ready to write letters, you can just leave off the crayon or pencils.
This do-a-dot printable can be used in a variety of ways, depending on the age and ability of the child. A younger child could just use do-a-dot markers, stickers, or some sort of transfer on the do-a-dot page and focus on the /c/ sound in construction while an older child could focus on the phonogram “tion” and build the word with the movable alphabet. I include a manuscript or cursive font card from our monthly themed pack. I like to introduce children to both print and cursive letters, so often I’ll add the cursive letter to the tray. I don’t use a font card with young toddlers, but it’s great for preschoolers on up.
Scroll down to see lots of ideas for using our do-a-dot printables for a variety of ages and themes.
Construction Phonemic Awareness Activity and Sticker Work
2-and-a-half-year-old Cousins Working Together on Their Construction Do-a-Dot Pages
This type of activity is wonderful for fine-motor development, increasing attention span, and reinforcing letter sounds.
For toddlers, I typically use the do-a-dot printables for vocabulary, hearing the beginning sound of a word, and fine-motor skills. Generally, with toddlers, I’ll just focus on the /c/ sound at the beginning of “construction.”
For a phonics lesson with young toddlers, I might casually say that construction starts with /c/ (the sound, not the letter name). This is just to introduce hearing the phonetic sound. I don’t focus on the letter “c,” although I use the printable that we already have available. We often focus on the child hearing the beginning sound by saying something like, “Construction, /c/, construction.”
Both of my 2½-year-old grandkids love working with letters and letter sounds, so we do a variety of letter activities, including activities with sandpaper letters and small objects. This is what I do with preschoolers who are learning their letter sounds. We follow the order shown in this post along with adding the featured letter. I don’t worry about going out of order for the monthly theme. Since both Caleb and Sophia are very familiar with /c/, we focused more on the letter formation than the letter sound.
I only use printables with toddlers that can be used for hands-on work, such as do-a-dot work, scissor cutting (cutting strips), or another type of printable that can be made into a manipulative. Printables when used with manipulatives are great for fine-motor development, work on important skills, and fit with the hands-on activities that are developmentally appropriate for toddlers.
2-and-a-half-year-old Cousins Visiting and Working Together on Their Construction Do-a-Dot Pages
It’s so much fun to watch Sophia and Caleb working and playing together! They’ve grown up 12 minutes away from each other (and Caleb lives across the street from my husband and me). So they’ve always loved to get together to visit, work, and play. (Even though Zoey is almost 7, she is great friends with Caleb, too!)
If you want to know more about how to introduce the /c/ sound, check out my post on how to teach letter sounds using Montessori principles.
If you would like help with introducing phonetic sounds, introducing objects with sounds, or beginning phonics in general, check out my DIY Beginning Montessori Phonics with Preschoolers.
For older children who already know their letter sounds but still enjoy do-a-dot work, I add the print movable alphabet word building, phonogram work, another hands-on activity to go with the do-a-dot work, and/or cursive movable alphabet and word analysis work. (Note: These examples have more than one type of additional activity, which I like for older children.)
As always, adapt your presentations for your unique child!
More Montessori-Inspired Construction Activities
Free Construction Printables and Montessori-Inspired Construction Activities
- Free Construction Vehicle Printables and Montessori-Inspired Construction Vehicle Activities
- Montessori-Inspired Construction Unit
- Free Construction Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
For Vehicle Lovers, More Montessori-Inspired Transportation Activities
The Ultimate Montessori-Inspired Transportation Unit
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- Free Construction Printables and Montessori-Inspired Construction Activities
- Montessori-Inspired Activities for Pre-Schoolers: Car Parking Game
- Free Transportation Printables and Montessori-Inspired Transportation Math Activities
- Free Construction Vehicle Printables and Montessori-Inspired Construction Vehicle Activities
- Montessori-Inspired Construction Unit
- Free Police Printables and Montessori-Inspired Police Activities
- Free Fire Safety Printables and Montessori-Inspired Fire Safety Activities
- Free Ambulance Printables and Montessori-Inspired Ambulance Activities
- Montessori-Inspired Train Activities with Spielgaben {Free Printables}
- Free Train Printables and Montessori-Inspired Train Activities
- Free Car Printables and Montessori-Inspired Car Activities
- Super-Cool Beginning Reading Activity – Race Car Blending
- Free Car Do-a-Dot Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Free Car Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Fun Magnetic Vehicle STEM Trays and Activity Bags
- Spielgaben STEM Challenge: Build and Fly a Magnetic Airplane
- Montessori Resources for Land, Air, and Water Transportation Activities
- Transportation Unit Study Pinterest Board
Don’t miss our themed monthly packs! You’ll get the link and password for the Living Montessori Now subscriber library with the current pack and all the past monthly packs if you subscribe to the Living Montessori Now weekly newsletter!
Free Do-a-Dot Printables and Ideas for Using Them
I love the versatility of do-a-dot printables! If you’re doing a month-long theme, you could easily change out the type of do-a-dot activity weekly to add interest. Here are four ideas of hands-on activities for any of our do-a-dot printables from my frog do-a-dot printable post (see post for details and materials used).
Just click on an image to go to the post with the related free printable!
Note: I’ve arranged the following gallery in alphabetical order, although some posts have two do-a-dot printables (and two different letters). You’ll find at least one free do-a-dot printable for each letter of the alphabet!
Also, I don’t introduce letters in alphabetical order. You can find out the order in which I introduce letter sounds here. I deviate from that order for our unit studies, though, and focus on a letter that’s simply related to our unit. That’s in addition to our other letter work.
You can see all our free do-a-dot printables with the latest at the top here.
For complete themed alphabet do-a-dot packs, see our Animal Alphabet Do-a-Dot Pack, Spanish Animal Alphabet Do-a-Dot Pack, and Healthy Food Alphabet Do-a-Dot Pack available for purchase in the Living Montessori Now shop.
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.
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