We’ve been focusing on a variety of calming activities in our current calming unit. Yoga is one of our favorite calming activities, so I designed our do-a-dot printable to go with /y/ for yoga. As usual, the free yoga do-a-dot printable 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 boy doing the king cobra yoga pose.
- 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 Yoga Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable
To download the yoga 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).
Montessori-Inspired Activities Using the Yoga Do-a-Dot Printable
Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links (at no cost to you).
Tray with Y for Yoga Do-a-Dot Printable and Pom Pom Transfer
Tray with Y for Yoga Do-a-Dot Printable and Pom Pom Transfer
I used a Multicraft tray, quick sticks, and a bamboo condiment cup with pom poms. Small cotton balls about 3/4″ in diameter would work well, too. I also added the cursive /y/ for yoga font card (part of our subscriber freebie pack … see below).
You can use a variety of tools for transfer activities, such as quick sticks, sugar tongs, or toast tongs. (Note: With toddlers, be extra careful to avoid leaving out materials, such as pom poms or glass gems, that could be a choking hazard. I typically keep small objects up out of reach for toddlers and get them out when I’m directly supervising their work.) Older children could use chopsticks to transfer pom poms.
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. 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.
Scroll down to see lots of ideas for using our do-a-dot printables for a variety of ages and themes.
/Y/ for Yoga Phonics Activity and Do-a-Dot Work
Finishing His Yoga Do-a-Dot Transfer Work
This type of activity is wonderful for fine-motor development, increasing attention span, and reinforcing letter sounds.
My 2½-year-old grandson, Caleb (Chrissy Chitwood‘s son) already knows his phonetic sounds, thanks to sound games and small objects with sandpaper letters. Caleb was fascinated with learning phonetic sounds and learned them much earlier than normal. I didn’t have him do structured writing activities with pencils, though. I still only have him trace letters on sandpaper letters, wooden tracing boards, or our sand tray.
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 /y/ sound at the beginning of “yoga.”
For a phonics lesson with young toddlers, I might casually say that yoga starts with /y/ (the sound, not the letter name). This is just to introduce hearing the phonetic sound. I don’t focus on the letter “y,” although I use the printable that we already have available. We often focus on the child hearing the beginning sound by saying something like, “Yoga, /y/, yoga.”
Both of my 2½-year-old grandkids love working with sandpaper letters and letter sounds, so we do more focused work on the letter sounds. 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.
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.
With Caleb, we focused on the proper formation of the letter “y” by tracing the sandpaper letter as well as our wooden print tracing board.
Caleb focused on using the quick sticks to transfer the pom poms. After transferring each one, he carefully adjusted its position on the dots. He was proud of his work when finished!
Later, I got out our do-a-dot markers, and Caleb had fun filling in the dots.
If you want to know more about how to introduce the /y/ 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!
Yoga Books and Poses
Along with the transfer and tracing work, we had fun with yoga books and poses. Caleb’s mom does yoga with him every day, which Caleb loves.
I read a variety of yoga books to Caleb.
These are his favorites right now:
Yoga Animals is a fabulous, Montessori-friendly books that even toddlers can enjoy.
Good Night Yoga isn’t a Montessori-style book, but it’s a lot of fun with its intricate drawings and “little blue cat, who lives in the moon” hiding on each set of pages. Caleb and his mom go through this book every night.
Caleb enjoyed demonstrating each of the poses in the two books for me. He was adorable, and I loved his excitement about yoga!
Peace and Mindfulness Resources and Activities
- Free Calming Printables and Montessori-Inspired Calming Activities
- Free Peace Printables and Montessori-Inspired Peace Activities
- Montessori-Inspired Peace Education Activities
- How to Prepare a Peace Corner
- Friendship Flower Activities
- 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
- Best Peace Quotes
- Equality and Peace Resources for Parents and Teachers
- The Silence Game {Montessori Activity to Develop Self Discipline}
- Free Guided Meditations for Kids {Mindfulness Resources}
- Free Guided Meditations for Deep Sleep and Relaxation {Mindfulness Resources for Teens and Adults}
- Free Guided Meditations for Deep Sleep for Kids {Mindfulness Resources}
- Best Nelson Mandela Quotes
- Free Guided Christian Meditations for Teens and Adults
- Free Guided Christian Meditations for Kids
- Free Guided Gratitude Meditations for Kids {Mindfulness Resources}
- Free Mindfulness Songs for Kids
- Promote Peace with Holidays Around the World Resources
- The Ultimate List of Free Meditation Printables for Kids {Mindfulness Resources}
- “Education Is the Best Weapon for Peace” Montessori Word Art Freebie
- The Best Peace Books for Kids
- The Best Mindfulness Books for Kids
- Free Peace Songs and Educational Videos
- Free Peace Do-a-Dot Printables (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Free Peace Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Montessori Education Week Free Peace Lesson
- Free Relaxing Ocean Images, Sounds, and Music for Kids and Adults {Mindfulness Resources}
- Free Guided Ocean Meditations for Kids {Mindfulness Resources}
- Free Guided Ocean Meditations {Mindfulness Resources for Teens and Adults}
- Let’s Sing Peace Around the World at School and at Home
- How to Make a 100 Hearts Sensory Bottle (100 Hearts Calming Bottle)
- Thank You for Planet Earth (or Thank You, Planet Earth) Mindfulness Cards and Booklet
- Free Mindfulness Resources from Calm
- Anti-Racism Resources for Parents and Teachers
- Free Juneteenth Songs and Educational Videos
- Animal-Inspired Mindfulness Affirmation Cards and Booklet in Manuscript and Cursive
- Kids’ Peace and Mindfulness Activities 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.
If this is your first time visiting Living Montessori Now, welcome! If you haven’t already, please join us on our Living Montessori Now Facebook page where you’ll find a Free Printable of the Day and lots of inspiration and ideas for parenting and teaching! And please follow me on Instagram, Pinterest (lots of Montessori-, holiday-, and theme-related boards), and YouTube. While you’re here, please check out the Living Montessori Now shop.
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