FREE Kindness Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)

I love a kindness unit at any time, and I designed our free kindness do-a-dot printable to be appropriate at any time. It features a child giving flowers to his grandmother. (Of course, the “flowers” are dandelions, so technically they wouldn’t be available at any time … but you know what I mean.) As usual, the do-a-dot printable is an instant download that is super easy to prepare!

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

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 printable has a photograph of a boy       giving flowers to his grandmother.
• 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 Kindness Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable

To download the /k/ for kindness do-a-dot phonics printable, 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).

K for Kindness Do-a-Dot Tray with Acrylic Heart Transfer Using Hand-Shaped Tongs

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 /k/ sound, while an older preschooler could trace the letters and build the word “kindness” with the Montessori movable alphabet. You can also use it to introduce the cursive letter “k” and to spell the word “kindness” with the cursive movable alphabet.

Young childen generally LOVE acrylic hearts, crystal hearts, and  glass gems. They’re so pretty and fun to touch. They’re perfect with do-a-dot printables, especially when using a tool for transferring the hearts or gems from container to the dots. (Note: Be careful with small hearts and glass gems around children who still mouth objects since they’re a choking hazard and very inviting. With children under age 3, I don’t leave small hearts or glass gems on the shelf and only have them available when I’m directly working with the child.)

You can use a variety of tools for transfer activities, such as quick sticks, sugar tongs, or toast tong. For this activity, I used some cute hand-shaped tongs. I used a wooden Multicraft tray for the activity. 

You could add a tracing activity to the printable. If you laminate your printable, you can use an erasable crayon like the Melissa & Doug Learning Mat Crayons or Crayola Erasable Crayons. You could also use a clear sheet protector (what I used here for simplicity and because I always have some around to store my printables) or dry erase pocket for a reusable activity. If your page is plain cardstock or paper, you could add a pencil or colored pencils. I often do that. For a 2-year-old or other young preschooler who’s not ready to write letters, you can just leave off the crayon or pencils.

Scroll down to see lots of ideas for using our do-a-dot printables for a variety of ages and themes.

Kindness Phonics and Do-a-Dot Activities

This type of activity is wonderful for fine-motor development, increasing attention span, and reinforcing letter sounds. For older children or children who are ready, it’s a great printable for working on the long i sound in kindness and spelling kindness with the movable alphabet.

My 4½-year-old grandson, Caleb (Chrissy Chitwood‘s son) already reads well. We’ve also done some introductory work with the cursive movable alphabet. So we used this activity to add a fun fine-motor activity and work with the cursive movable alphabet to spell kindness.

I had the do-a-dot page in a sheet protector so it could be reused and to add variety to our do-a-dot work. So Caleb used an erasable crayon to trace the dotted letters spelling “kindness” on the do-a-dot page. Then he used hand-shaped tongs to put the acrylic hearts on the dots.

For children under age 3, 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 /k/ sound at the beginning of “kindness.” 

For a phonics lesson with young toddlers, I might casually say that kindness starts with /lk/ (the sound, not the letter name). This is just to introduce hearing the phonetic sound. I don’t focus on the letter “k,” although I use the printable that we already have available. We often focus on the child hearing the beginning sound by saying something like, “Kindness, /k/, kindness.”

With preschoolers who are working on 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.

If you want to know more about how to introduce the /k/ sound, check out my post on how to teach letter sounds using Montessori principles.

I only use printables with children under age 3 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.

For older children who already know their letter sounds but still enjoy do-a-dot work, I often 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.)

More Kindness Resources

• Free Kindness Printables and Montessori-Inspired Kindness Activities
• Montessori-Inspired 100 Acts of Kindness Project
• Simple Ways to Make a Difference in the World
• Family Fun with 100 Acts of Kindness and Operation Beautiful
• Including a Toddler in the 100 Acts of Kindness Challenge
• Using Montessori Principles in the 100 Acts of Kindness Challenge
• Teaching Kids to Be Kind
• The Ultimate Guide to Having Kind Kids This Christmas
• Focusing on Toddler Manners in the 100 Acts of Kindness Challenge
• Free Kindness Songs and Rhymes for Home or School {Character Education Resources}
• Completing 100 Acts of Kindness (Toddler Manners Challenge) and Starting 100+ Acts of Kindness
• The Ultimate Guide to Kindness Elves
• Encouraging 100 Acts of Kindness with the Kindness Elves
• Introducing the Kind Words Challenge with the Kindness Elves
• Fun with Kindness Elves, 100 Acts of Kindness, and the Kind Words Challenge
• Encouraging Kindness with Gardening Activities and the Kindness Elves
• Encouraging Kindness with the We’re All Wonders Picture Book
• Encourage Kindness with the Wonder Books #ChooseKind
• Simple Literature-Based Ideas with the Pink and Green Kindness Elves
• How to Do a Simple Version of Camp Kindness
• How to Help Your Kids Get the Most out of the Wonder Movie
• Teaching about Hunger and Poverty through a Food and Toy Drive
• Kindness Project for Children and Adults of All Ages {100 Acts of Kindness}
• 100 Acts of Kindness Challenge for Big Sisters and Big Brothers
• Free Inspirational Kindness Videos for a Variety of Ages
• How to Add Kind Words from Books to the Kind Words Challenge
• How I Prepared a Simple Kindness Elves Activity for Giving Tuesday (or Any Time)
• The Kindness Elves, Pete the Cat, a Baby, and a Toddler Join Our Food and Toy Drive
• Family 100 Acts of Kindness Challenge for Babies and Older Children
• The Kindness Elves and Pete the Cat Join Our 5th Annual Family Food and Toy Drive
• Family and Neighborhood 100 Acts of Kindness Challenge for Toddlers on Up
• How to Make a 100 Hearts Sensory Bottle (100 Hearts Calming Bottle)
• Our Online and Curbside Family Food and Toy Drive
• How to Prepare a Book Basket That Encourages Kindness
• The Kindness Elves, Pete the Cat, and Our 7th Annual Family Food and Toy Drive
• Free Empathy Songs and Educational Videos {Character Education Resources}
• Ways to Be Kind to Humankind for Kids and Adults
• Kindness Projects Pinterest Board

Montessori-Inspired Kindness Pack for DIY Cards and Counters, Number or Letter Matching, Number or Letter Basket, Bead Bar Work, Hands-on Math Operations, Number or Letter Salt/Sand Writing Tray, Letter Tracing, DIY Movable Alphabet, and Creative Writing (subscriber freebie, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password – or check your inbox if you’re already a subscriber).

Friendship Resources (which fit well with a kindness theme)

• Free Friendship Printables and Montessori-Inspired Friendship Activities
• Free H for Help Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
• Favorite Books for a Friendship Theme
• Montessori-Inspired Peace Education Activities
• How to  Prepare a Peace Corner
• Montessori-Inspired Friendship Activities
• Free Friendship Songs and Rhymes {Character Education Resources}
• Free Taking Turns and Sharing Songs and Rhymes {Character Education Resources}
• How to Teach Toddlers and Preschoolers to Take Turns and Work Together
• The Best Children’s Books about Taking Turns and Sharing
• How to Prepare a Montessori Peace Tray
• Montessori Services Peace Activities and Resources Review
• Our Favorite Picture Book about Inclusion and Friendship
• Does Your Preschooler Have This Fabulous Multicultural Children’s Book?
• Anti-Racism Resources for Parents and Teachers
• How to Prepare a Book Basket That Encourages Kindness
• Free Empathy Songs and Educational Videos {Character Education Resources}
• Fostering Kids’ Friendships Pinterest Board

Free Friendship Pack

Montessori-Inspired Friendship Pack for DIY Cards and Counters, Number or Letter Matching, Number or Letter Basket, Bead Bar Work, Hands-on Math Operations, Number or Letter Salt/Sand Writing Tray, Letter Tracing, DIY Movable Alphabet, and Creative Writing (subscriber freebie, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password – or check your inbox if you’re already a subscriber).

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!

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