My family loves Safari Ltd. animal figures of all kinds! And the Good Luck Minis are especially popular with my 5-year-old granddaughter, Zoey. (I’m sure they will be with my toddler grandchildren as well, but I don’t have them accessible for toddlers until the toddlers are a bit older.)
I designed these cutting strips to coordinate with the Safari Ltd. Ocean TOOB or Good Luck Mini ocean animals. As usual with our cutting strips, the free ocean animal cutting strips are super easy to download and prepare.
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Montessori-Inspired Printables at Living Montessori Now
My daughter, Christina (a former Montessori child), and I are partnering to bring you a series of Montessori-inspired printables. (Note: Christina has some sweet, themed kids’ fitness printables that are great for homes or classrooms!)
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). The cutting strips use photographs or realistic images to emphasize reality. These cutting strips have photographs of ocean animals that can be used with the Safari Ltd. Ocean TOOB or a combination of Safari Ltd. Ocean Fun Pack and Safari Ltd. Sea Life Fun Pack.
Preschoolers love to learn proper terminology, so I tell you the name of the objects or animals featured whenever I can.
Free Ocean Animal Cutting Strips
To download, 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 Ocean Animal Cutting Strips
Ocean Animal Cutting Strips with Tray and Safari Ltd Good Luck Mini Ocean Animals
Cutting skills are so important for preschoolers. Two year olds can begin working on them, too. When children are first working on cutting skills, they’ll have an easier time cutting cardstock than paper. So, in the beginning, I recommend printing the strips on cardstock. Printer paper is fine for children with more advanced cutting skills.
I used a small Multicraft tray to hold the cutting strip work. I’ve always used Fiskar scissors for kids, which are sharp enough to cut paper easily. I used a combination of animals from the Safari Ltd. Ocean Fun Pack and Safari Ltd. Sea Life Fun Pack. Instead, you could use the Safari Ltd. Ocean TOOB figures, although the type of ray will be different, and you’ll need to explain that you’re using the humpback whale or sperm whale instead of the orca (which is technically a dolphin).
For home use with the cutting work, I like to have a small container to catch the paper scraps. I used a small wooden box we had, although you could use any small container. For younger children, I recommend keeping the basket or tray up out of reach when it’s not being used.
For classroom use, you might want to use Ziplock bags to catch the scraps. Children have fun taking their scraps home in a bag … or saving them to paste onto a collage.
Matching or Collage Work with Ocean Animal Cutting Strips and Spanish Water Mat
Spanish Water Mat and Ocean Animal Cut-and-Paste Activity
You can easily extend the cutting strips work by adding the free Spanish or English water mat from the free Land, Air, and Water Mats in Spanish & English by Escuelita Montessori at Teachers Pay Teachers.
Spanish Water Mat with Ocean Animal Cut-and-Paste and Mini Ocean Animal Matching
Preschoolers can cut out the strips, glue them to the mat (optional), and match the animals to the cutting strip images. I like to introduce the Spanish word for water at the same time.
Zoey at 5 years old doesn’t need cutting strips any longer, although she sometimes asks for them to cut apart and use as “prize tickets.” She’s proud that she can cut them as well as an adult! She was happy to demonstrate this work for the photo.
Including Young Toddlers in Ocean Animal Work with the Water Mat
At home, toddlers typically want to be included in their older siblings’ work. This is how I included my toddler grandchildren.
This isn’t actually an activity with the cutting strips, although you could add some of the cut-apart small pictures if you wished. Most important for toddlers is as much real-life experience as possible. As part of their homeschool “toddler school,” my daughter, Christina, and her husband took their 16-month-old son and 19-month-old niece to visit the ocean one day and Birch Aquarium in La Jolla another day.
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They also took my sensory/water table to the park a few days with Schleich ocean animals and pouring activities.
Toddler Cousins Placing Ocean Animal Figures on Water Mat
So we extended all those activities by introducing the water mat with the Spanish word for water. (They’re learning Spanish words along with sign language and English vocabulary.) For them, I got out the animals from our Safari Ltd. Ocean TOOB and let them place the animals on the water mat while we focused on the names of the animals. This was just super-cute to watch!
Note: I don’t keep the Safari Ltd. animals out because of a possible choking hazard. I only use them with toddlers when we’re working directly with the toddlers.
More Ocean Resources and Activities
Free Ocean Printables and Montessori-Inspired Ocean Activities
- Free Octopus Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Non-Scary and Montessori-Friendly Resources for a Shark Tooth Dig
- Free Ocean Songs and Educational Videos
- Free Relaxing Ocean Images, Sounds, and Music for Kids and Adults {Mindfulness Resources}
- Free Guided Ocean Meditations for Kids {Mindfulness Resources}
- Montessori-Inspired Ocean Unit
- Montessori-Inspired Beach Language Activities
- Montessori-Inspired Resources for World Oceans Day
- Montessori-Inspired Ocean Math Activities
- Montessori-Inspired Turtle Activities
- Shells and Starfish Activities + Free Printable from Montessori By Mom
- Free Shark Printables and Montessori-Inspired Shark Activities
- Shark Water-Bead Number or Letter Sensory Bin
- Farm, Zoo, & Ocean Animal Sensory Bottles for Babies and Toddlers
- Montessori-Inspired Toddler Geography Activities with Baby Beluga
- Coral Reef Kit and Sensory Bin
- Letters and Words in the Sand {Montessori-Inspired Beach Phonics Fun}
- Wonderful Whale and Water-Bead Sensory Bin {Free Printables}
- Seashell and Sea Life Nature Tray: How to Teach Vocabulary Using the 3-Period Lesson
- Free Turtle Printables and Montessori-Inspired Turtle Activities
- Free Turtle Do-a-Dot Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Free Turtle Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Seashell Color Matching {Easy-to-Prepare Variation of Montessori Color Box 3}
- DIY Coral Reef Water Table with Practical Life Activities
- The Ultimate Montessori-Inspired Shark Unit
- Ocean Unit Study Pinterest Board
MONTESSORI-INSPIRED PACKS – SUBSCRIBER FREEBIES
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!
The Best Way to Begin Working on Scissor Cutting Skills
Even before using cutting strips, I recommend using an easier object to cut, such as strings of beads. You’ll find lots of tips and ideas for teaching scissor skills in my post on developing scissor cutting skills with Montessori-inspired activities.
More Montessori-Inspired Paper Cutting Activities
You’ll find ideas for home and classroom setups in my post on Montessori-inspired paper cutting activities.
All Our Free Themed Cutting Strips
I’ve arranged the following gallery in alphabetical order. Just click on an image to go to the post with the related free printable!
You can see all our free cutting strips with the latest at the top here.
I hope your child (or students) enjoys using the cutting strips. 🙂
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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