Free Reptile Printables and Montessori-Inspired Reptile Activities

We’ve had turtle, alligator, crocodilian, and snake units, and now we’re putting those reptiles and more together for a reptile unit! Here, you’ll find links to free reptile printables used to prepare hands-on activities and a new Montessori-inspired reptile pack for our newsletter subscribers’ resource library!

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

In our vertebrate series, you’ll find units with free printables and hands-on activities for amphibians, reptiles, fish, birds, and mammals.

M0ntessori Shelves with Reptile-Themed Activities

Montessori Shelves with Reptile-Themed Activities

You’ll find Montessori-inspired reptile-themed numbers, letters, and and more (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber) Note: The Montessori-inspired reptile pack isn’t designed as a complete reptile unit but as supplemental materials. I design the packs using realistic images that I’ve often looked for when preparing a unit study (such as font cards and phonogram cards featuring the letter and phonogram related to the theme and math cards with realistic images that fit the theme and can be adapted for math activities at a variety of levels.)

You could mix your reptile-themed activities among your shelves according to curriculum area. Or you could have a special reptile-themed area something like the one pictured. My shelves at the beginning of our unit have a mixture of skill levels. Many of the activities can be adapted for a variety of levels. Many of these are designed for early elementary as well as preschoolers. If you’re a homeschooler, just choose the activities that work for your child’s interests and ability levels. If you don’t have room for all the activities you’d like to do, simply rotate them.

Montessori Shelves with Reptile-Themed Activities and Alred Dehodencq Art Print

Notice the framed art print Two children sitting playing with a turtle by Alred Dehodencq. It’s a free download from Wikiart.

For our monthly featured art print, I purchased a Li’l DAVINCI art frame that opens in the front for easily changing a free art masterpiece printable or vintage illustration to fit with the month’s theme. The frame can be switched from horizontal to vertical without changing the hanger, which is perfect!

If you’re wondering about the rugs and rug box I use, both the rugs and wooden rug holder are from Montessori Services. I love the Montessori Services rugs and rug holder! I used to use an umbrella stand something like these. I loved that for 1-3 rugs, but I needed something different when I had more grandchildren and some projects that needed more than one rug.

Favorite Shelves, Trays, Baskets, and More for Montessori Homeschoolers

I often get asked about the trays, baskets, etc., that I use, so I published a post with many of the items. You can find lots of helpful resources here. They’re not all essential, so don’t feel you need to have everything. Just choose what’s best for your budget and your unique family’s needs. You’ll find more ideas in the Living Montessori Now Amazon shop

Reptile-Themed Books for Kids

Even though I have books on shelves, I’m now keeping many of my themed books in a forward-facing display after placing a plant where the themed book basket was before. Most of my seasonal books are now in that book basket.

For toddlers and preschoolers, about ¾ of the books I use are typically Montessori friendly (focusing on reality without smiling or talking animals or smiling or talking vehicles).

Books for a Reptile Unit

Top Shelf of Main Themed Shelf:

National Geographic Kids First Big Book of Reptiles and Amphibians. We have a number of books in this series and love them!
National Geographic Kids Ultimate Reptileopedia: The Most Complete Reptile Reference Ever. I love its gorgeous photos and detailed descriptions of lots and lots of reptiles!
DK’s First Animal Encyclopedia. The book has lots of great 2-page spreads.

Top Shelf of Forward -Facing Display:

Nature Anatomy
The Animal Book: A Visual Encyclopedia of Life on Earth is great for plant and animal classification as well as animal themes.
About Reptiles

2nd Shelf:

DK Find Out! Reptiles and Amphibians
National Geographic Kids Reptiles
Really Cool Reptiles (This series – I have the whole set – is great for young readers and preschoolers who are learning about animal classifications!)
National Geographic Kids Lizards

3rd Shelf:

National Geographic Kids Snakes
Smithsonian Everything You Need to Kow About Snakes
Caimans, Gharials, Alligators, and Crocodiles

4th Shelf:

Alligators and Crocodiles
National Geographic Kids Turtles
What’s the Difference? Turtles and Tortoises
Go Wild! Sea Turtles

Bottom Shelf

Hurry Up, Franklin ( We have – and love – many books in the Franklin series)
The House on East 88th Street (We have and love the entire Lyle, Lyle Crocodile series.)
The Greedy Python
The Magic School Bus Gets Cold Feet

Shelf with Reptile-Themed Fiction Books and Schleich Animals

On the other side of the room is a shelf with some fun reptile-themed fiction books and related Schleich animal figures:

Mañana Iguana with Schleich Iguana
Bill and Pete (We have and love the entire series.) with Schleich Crocodile
The Mixed-Up Chameleon with Schleich Chameleon
Except Antarctica! with Schleich Tortoise

We used other books that we keep in a large book basket, such as:

Tree of Life: The Incredible Biodiversity of Life on Earth
DK Smithsonian Animal Book
National Geographic Kids Little Kids First Big Book of Animals
Animalium: Welcome to the Museum
My Encyclopedia of Very Important Things (on the shelf to the right of the main themed shelf)
DK Animal Atlas
Over and Under the Pond (part of a beautiful series of Over and Under nature books)
Chameleons Are Cool

My 5-year-old grandson is fascinated with crocodilians, and he loves reading chapter books and graphic novels. He’s reading and in love with the InvestiGators book series right now!

You’ll find some of the books we used here as well:

You can see lots of reptile books as they’re published here.

Little Kids First Big Book of Reptiles and Amphibians with Parts of a Turtle Puzzle and Booklet Making

The book is National Geographic Kids First Big Book of Reptiles and Amphibians. We have a number of books in this series and love them!

Free Printables: Parts of a Turtle Printables from All Day Primary (There are a variety of parts of a turtle printables. I used the turtle 3-part cards, writing sheets (for booklet making), and definition cards. There are options for a number of ages and levels. The labels for the puzzle are cut out from the Parts of the Turtle Definitions Stage 2.

The Montessori turtle puzzle can be used in a variety of ways. For older kids, I like to have them build the puzzle outside the frame and/or add labels to the parts of the turtle.

Ultimate Reptileopedia Book with Reptile 3-Part Cards

Free Printable: Reptile 3-Part Cards from Savvy Prints at TPT (These are in both print and cursive.)

The book is National Geographic Kids Ultimate Reptileopedia: The Most Complete Reptile Reference Ever. I love its gorgeous photos and detailed descriptions of lots and lots of reptiles!

**LEGO Crocodile with Reptile Pages from First Animal Encyclopedia and Reptile Anatomy Activities in the Background**

LEGO Crocodile with Reptile Pages from First Animal Encyclopedia and Reptile Anatomy Activities in the Background

My 5-year-old grandson is obsessed with both LEGOs and crocodiles! He let me borrow his LEGO crocodile to display for our reptile unit!

I’ve often used pages from DK’s First Animal Encyclopedia (the book on our book easel). The book has lots of great 2-page spreads. See below for information about the reptile anatomy materials in the background. (There are also reptile sorting by continent cards and our Montessori continents globe beyond what you can see here in the background.)

Reptiles Sand or Salt Writing Tray with Movable Alphabet Spelling

Sand or Salt Writing Tray for a Reptile Theme

Free Printables: /ĭ/ for iguana and /r/ for reptiles as well as “i_e” in reptiles phonogram for salt or sand writing tray (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber). They come in print, D’Nealian, and cursive.

You’ll see a variety of simple letter writing trays in my previous unit study posts. I often used the wooden tray from the Melissa & Doug Lace and Trace Shapes. You can use whatever tray or container work best for you, though.

The sandpaper letters I use are available in print or cursive.

I typically now use this lovely spelling/alphabet tray from FamilyTreeWW on Etsy. I like it for writing more than one letter or spelling words. (Note: If that sand tray is currently unavailable, you’ll find lots of other options for Montessori sand trays on Etsy.)

I added an iguana from the Safari Ltd. Pets TOOB. (There are other TOOBs with iguanas and other reptiles.) I used the iguana’s tail to write in the spelling tray. It’s fun to add a variety of writing tools to keep things interesting!

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.

Tortoise Alphabet Cards in Print and Cursive with Reptile Life Cycle Cards

Free Printable: Reptile 3-Part Cards from Savvy Prints at TPT (For this activity, I just used the “tortoise” labels in print and cursive.)

Free Printables: Tortoise alphabet cards in print and cursive (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber)

I have a new themed alphabet card set each month now, and each set is very adaptable. You can use them for activities such as matching the letters with sandpaper letters to matching print to cursive letters to spelling words with the alphabet cards used as a themed movable alphabet.

Free Printable: Life Cycles of Reptiles by Silvia Osti at TPT

These cards can be used for vocabulary or life cycle sequencing. For older children, I like to use them for movable alphabet creative writing.

Life Cycle of a Sea Turtle Activities

All About the Sea Turtle Booklet from 123 Homeschool 4 Me

I like to have a control copy of the reader available along with printables for kids to make their own booklets. This includes the sea turtle life cycle and more!

I also have the sea turtle life cycle materials that are part of the life cycle wooden tray materials and the Safari Ltd. Life Cycle of a Green Sea Turtle figures.

Gecko Addition with More than Two Addends

Free Printable: Leopard gecko numbers 1-20 and addition equation symbols, printing out 2 or more addition signs (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber).

The little geckos (not leopard geckos but very cute!) are a set of 40 gecko charms.

The open book is the National Geographic Kids Ultimate Reptileopedia: The Most Complete Reptile Reference Ever. It’s such a great book for information about reptiles!

There are so many different activities you can prepare using the math cards and geckos. With my 5-year-old grandkids, I’m using the gecko charms for sorting and addition activities with more than 2 addends. You just have to print out duplicates of the addition symbol and any numbers that might be duplicates.

Here, the geckos are sorted by design, and 3 designs are chosen for the addition problem.

Turtle Multiplication Activity

Using Turtle Charms and Printable Multiplication Board to Complete the 4 Times Table

Free Printable: DIY Multiplication “Bead” Board with Booklet by Pip Squad Montessori at Teachers Pay Teachers. If your budget (or available space) makes a wooden multiplication board impractical, I think this printable is an awesome alternative. You could use it with a variety of small objects (such as the turtle charms) or simply use it with pony beads. I put out materials for the 1-5 times tables, although there are printables for 1-10.

I used pretty antique silver alloy turtle charms. These are unavailable right now, but there are a number of other options shown below this one on Amazon that are available. These are great for kids’ jewelry making during a reptile or turtle unit as well.

There are booklet materials in the free printable if you want to have a multiplication-equation-writing activity. My 5-year-old grandson, Caleb, enjoyed the activity!

Montessori Shelf with Reptile Anatomy Activities and Sorting Reptiles by Continents

These printbles aren’t free, but they’re great for a complete reptile unit!

The crocodile anatomy and anatomy of a lizard activities are part of the lovely (and inexpensive) 70-page Reptiles Unit Study by BabyKookoo on Etsy.

The Sorting Reptiles by Continents activity is from Every Star Is Different’s Reptiles Printable Pack. They have amazing printables for both vertebrates and invertebrates that are designed for preschool through elementary. You can see their vertebrate printables (including the reptile printable pack) in my review post. We’ll be using a number of their other reptile printables later in our unit.

Free Montessori-Inspired Reptile Pack

Montessori-Inspired Reptile 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).

Note: In our subscriber library, you’ll also find a Montessori-Inspired Turtle Pack, Montessori-Inspired Alligator Pack, Montessori-Inspired Crocodilian Pack, and Montessori-Inspired Snake Pack!

More Reptile Resources

Montessori-Inspired Snake 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).

Montessori-Inspired Crocodilian 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).

Montessori-Inspired Alligator Pack for DIY Cards and Counters, Number or Letter Matching, Number or Letter Basket, Bead Bar Work, Hands-on Math Operations, Greater Than/Less Than Work, 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 for the current password if you’re already a subscriber)

Montessori-Inspired Turtle 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, and DIY Movable Alphabet (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 snake printables and Montessori-inspired snake activities includes a number of snake posts.

Free crocodilian printables and Montessori-inspired crocodilian activities includes a number of crocodilian posts.

Montessori-inspired alligator unit with free printables and activities includes a number of alligator posts.

Check out my post and video with hands-on, greater than, less than alligator math using part of our subscriber freebie pack and another free printable!

You’ll find links to our subscriber freebie turtle pack, lots of free turtle printables, and ideas for turtle activities in my free turtle printables and Montessori-inspired turtle activities.

These are all our reptile posts:

Helpful Animal Classification Posts

If you’d like ideas for calendar-based themes throughout May and June, see my May Themed Activities for Kids.and June Themed Activities for Kids.

Have fun exploring reptiles!

Learn more about my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to. Teach Grace and Courtesy!

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