We’ve loved our spring rabbit activities! Today, I’m sharing free do-a-dot printables for both /r/ for rabbit and /k/ for kitten (baby rabbit)! Both pages can be used for beginning sound work or for more advanced phonics work. As usual, the free printable is an instant download and super easy to prepare!
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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!ssori-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 Rabbit and Kitten Do-a-Dot Phonics Printabels
To download the rabbit and kitten 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).
Rabbit and Kitten Do-a-Dot Tray
Rabbit and Kitten Do-a-Dot Tray
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 /r/ sound and/or /k/ sound, while an older preschooler could trace the letters and build the word “rabbit” and/or “kitten” with the Montessori movable alphabet. You can also use it to introduce the cursive letters “r” and “k” as I’ve done in the photo, using the free cursive font cards from our rabbit unit.
For our rabbit and kitten do-a-dot tray, I used these washable, pastel do-a-dot markers. 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.
Rabbit and Kitten Phonics Activities and Do-a-Dot Work
Working with Rabbit and Kitten Do-a-Dot Pages and Word Building
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, you can focus on blending sounds into the word “rabbit” and/or “kitten” or spelling “rabbit” and/or “kitten.”
My 4-year-old grandson, Caleb (Chrissy Chitwood‘s son) loves working with the movable alphabet. First, he used the movable aphabet to build the words “rabbit” and “kitten.”
Then he used triangular grip pencils to trace the letters before using the do-a-dot markers.
I absolutely love what he did with the next step! I enjoy seeing which do-a-dot marker colors children choose and what designs they make. Caleb spontaneously decided to make the red and blue pattern of the movable alphabet letters (although these do-a-dot markers are in pink ad blue). You’ll notice that he started with pink, blue, pink, pink, blue, pink for both rabbit and kitten, since they have the same consonant-vowel patterns. Then he used pink for the rest of the letter. So cool!
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 /r/ sound at the beginning of “rabbit.”
For a phonics lesson with young toddlers, I might casually say that rabbit starts with /r/ (the sound, not the letter name). This is just to introduce hearing the phonetic sound. I don’t focus on the letter “r,” although I use the printable that we already have available. We often focus on the child hearing the beginning sound by saying something like, “Rabbit, /r/, rabbit.”
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 /r/ or /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.)
Helpful Animal Classification Posts
- Living and Non-Living
- Plant and Animal Sorting
- Montessori Animal Classification
- Free Zoo Printables and Montessori-Inspired Zoo Activities
- Free Endangered Animal Songs and Educational Videos {Save the Animals}
- Montessori Vertebrate Resources for Preschool Through Elementary
- Free Endangered Animal Printables and Montessori-Inspired Endangered Animal Activities
- Montessori-Inspired Animal Units
Spring Resources with at Least One Rabbit Activity
- Free Rabbit Printables and Montessori-Inspired Rabbit Activities
- Free Spring Printables and Montessori-Inspired Spring Math Activities
- Montessori-Inspired Spring Playdough Activities
- Montessori-Inspired Snacktime Subtraction Activity
- Free Easter Songs and Rhymes for Circle Time
- Montessori-Inspired Spring Themes and Activities {Hundreds of Resources}
- How to Prepare a Simple Spring Playdough Tray
- Spring-Themed, Editable Name and Word-Tracing Pack
- Montessori Spring Printables for Classroom or Home
- Kids’ Spring Activities Pinterest Board
Montessori-Inspired Rabbit 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 newsletter 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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