Free Multicultural Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)

We’re loving our colors and diversity unit! I have a new do-a-dot printable for you today featuring skin colors and diversity. As usual, this multicultural do-a-dot phonics printable is an instant download and 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.
• 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 Multicultural Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable

To download the /m/ for multicultural 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).

Multicultural Do-a-Dot Tray with Multicultural Children Stickers

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

For our multicultural do-a-dot tray, I used these fun multicultural children stickers. I placed everything on our usual Multicraft tray. If you prefer, you can use a variety of tools for transfer activities, such as quick sticks, sugar tongs, or toast tongs.

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. If your page isn’t laminated, 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.

Multicultural Phonics and Do-a-Dot Activities

I had fun watching my 4-year-old grandkids, Caleb and Sophia, working on this together. They worked together to build the word “multicultural” with our print movable alphabet. Sometimes, I sounded out part of the word, and they found the appropriate letters. For other parts of the word, I said a letter sound and asked them to find the letter. 

Then Caleb and Sophia traced the dotted letters on their multicultural do-a-dot page. They used triangular grip pencils to trace the letters. Triangular grip pencils are a great way to help young children develop the proper pencil grip. They took turns using the blue pencil to trace the blue letters and the red pencil to trace the red letters. 

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 /m/ sound at the beginning of “multicultural.”

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

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.

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

For older children and any 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.)

It was so much fun to see the way Caleb and Sophia visited with each other while placing their stickers on the do-a-dot page! They were both proud of their work when they were finished, too!

More Multicultural Resources

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

• Free Colors and Diversity Printables and Montessori-Inspired Colors and Diversity Activities
• Montessori-Inspired Respect for Diversity
• Montessori Inspiration for Martin Luther King Day
• Free Martin Luther King Day Songs and Rhymes for Circle Time
• Free Chinese New Year Songs and Rhymes for Circle Time
• Free Cinco de Mayo Songs and Rhymes for Circle Time
• Equality and Peace Resources for Parents and Teachers
• The Snowy Day Eggshell Crushing and Pin-Poking Activity
• Promote Peace with Holidays Around the World Resources
• The Best Peace Books for Kids
• Free Multicultural Songs Celebrating Diversity and Inclusion {Character Education Resources}
• Multicultural Children’s Book Day Review: If a Caterpillar Can Fly, Why Can’t I?
• Multicultural Children’s Book Day Review: Midnight Teacher: Lilly Ann Granderson and Her Secret School
• Does Your Preschooler Have This Fabulous Multicultural Children’s Book?
• Multicultural Children’s Book Day Review: B Is for Breathe: The ABCs of Coping with Fussy and Frustrating Feelings
• Anti-Racism Resources for Parents and Teachers
• Free Juneteenth Songs and Educational Videos
• Free Black History Printables and Montessori-Inspired Black History Activities
• Multicultural Children’s Book Day Review: The Switch (The Misadventures of Tarah and Darah)
• Favorite Black History Books for Kids
• Free Family Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
• Free Black Family Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
• Free Black History Songs and Educational Videos for Kids
• Multicultural Education Pinterest Board

Color Mixing, Grading, and Rainbow Activities 

• Montessori Color Mixing Activities – Rainbows of Color
• Montessori-Inspired Rainbow Activities
• DIY Color Tablets
• Water-Bead Sensory Bottles for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers
• Easter Egg Rainbow Practical Life and Sensorial Activity
• Montessori-Inspired Rainbow Activities with Spielgaben {Free Printables}
• Free Rainbow Printables and Montessori-Inspired Rainbow Activities
• Montessori-Inspired Mess-Free Finger Painting and Color Mixing
• Free Eat-a-Rainbow Printables and Montessori-Inspired Activities
• Free Fruit Rainbow Do-a-Dot Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download
• Free Eat-a-Rainbow Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
• Rainbow Unit Study Pinterest Board

Again, 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!

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