Free Seashell Printables and Montessori-Inspired Seashell Activities

Summer’s almost here, and it’s time for a fun summer learning theme! I love an ocean theme in the summer, and this one focuses specifically on seashells with free seashell printables and hands-on seashell activities. I also have a new Montessori-inspired seashell pack for our newsletter subscribers’ resource library!

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

Montessori Shelves with Seashell-Themed Activities

You’ll find Montessori-inspired seashell 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 seashell pack isn’t designed as a complete seashell 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 seashell-themed activities among your shelves according to curriculum area. Or you could have a special seashell-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.

Even though I have books on shelves, I keep many books for our current theme in a book basket by the themed shelf. You’ll find a few of the books I’ve used here. For toddlers and preschoolers, at least ¾ of the books I use are Montessori friendly (focusing on reality without smiling or talking animals or smiling or talking vehicles).

Notice the framed art print Child with a Seashell (1902) by Frank W. Benson. It’s a free download from Wikimedia Commons.

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

Seashells: More Than a Home Book with Shells and Matching Cards

Seashells More Than a Home Book with Shells and Matching Cards

I especially like the book Seashells: More Than a Home because it takes a creative approach to a study of seashells. If you look inside the book on Amazon, you’ll see what I mean!

You’ll also see the book Seashells, Crabs and Sea Stars on the top shelf on my Montessori shelf photo. It’s part of the popular series of Take Along Guides.

The book I probably refer to the most for identifying seashells, though, is the DK Smithsonian Handbooks Shells. It’s more expensive than most of the children’s books I buy, but it’s a gorgeous book with lots of detailed information about a large variety of seashells.

The seashells and hand-drawn seashell cards on the tray are from Michael Olaf. I purchased them when I homeschooled my now-adult children. They’re a beautiful set!

Free Printable: Seashell Identification Flashcards by FloridaPanhandle.com. I added these to the tray so we could have an activity where we check to see which seashells match the ones from Florida. Note: There’s also a fun seashell scavenger hunt at FloridaPanhandle.com. You could use that in a sandbox or sandtable with seashells from a seashell collection if you can’t go seashell hunting at the beach.

If you have elementary-age children, you might prefer the shells with matching cards from Montessori Services. They’re more expensive than many sets, but they’re gorgeous and have a lot of information about the shells.

There’s also an awesome Shells and Starfish Toolbox from Montessori By Mom. It’s out of stock right now, although you can read my review and get a free ocean number puzzle here.

Neither the Michael Olaf or Montessori Services sets are inexpensive. You can find assorted collections of seashells inexpensively on Amazon. Those can be paired with the Florida Panhandle seashell identification cards or other free or inexpensive identification cards.

**DK Smithsonian Animal Book with Seashell Nomenclature Cards and Seashell Activities**

DK Smithsonian Animal Book with Seashell Nomenclature Cards and Seashell Activities

My grandkids like to look at the pictures in the DK Smithsonian Animal Book: A Visual Encyclopedia of Life on Earth. It isn’t designed for preschoolers, but my 3-year-old grandkids love it as much as my 7-year-old granddaughter. The pages about mollusks are perfect for a seashell unit.

Free Printable: Shells Nomenclature Cards from Wise Owl Factory. I like that these have definition cards, which give lots of helpful information and are great for early elementary. They’re the cards in the card holder in front of the DK Smithsonian Animal Book.

Seashell Sand Writing Tray

Free Printable: seashell letter “s” for 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)

Free Printables: sh shell phonogram card (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) There’s also a ch conch phonogram card, although it isn’t shown on the shelf.

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.)

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.

I’m often asked where I got our cursive wooden alphabet letters. In this post, you’ll find the link to those along with links to other movable alphabets you can purchase, printable movable alphabet letters, and a variety of DIY options.

Matching Seashell Letters to Sandpaper Letters

Free Printable: Seashell alphabet cards in manuscript 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 just used the manuscript print cards with my 3-year-old granddaughter, Sophia, although they’re available in either print or cursive in the pack. I’ve used the themed alphabet cards in so many different ways! For this activity, I laid out the second set of sandpaper letters using the order I like to introduce sandpaper letters in (from my post on what order to use in introducing letters to preschoolers).

I also used the clam shells I had used for my previous post about letters and words in the sand. I added marker letters to the shells for an added letter matching activity. Sophia loved working with the tiny shells.

Sorting Digraph Seashell Cards and Movable Alphabet Spelling

Free Printable: Sort the Digraph Shells Activity by Koala Kinders at Teachers Pay Teachers

This activity was super easy to prepare! I simply printed out the printable on cardstock and then cut out the individual cards. I don’t typically laminate materials for home use unless they’ll be used in an activity with water or another one in which they could get ruined if not laminated.

Younger children can simply match the activity by hearing the digraphs and having the adult match them to the letters. Older children can sort out the cards on the sorting mat. The movable alphabet can also be used to spell any of the words.

Reviewing sh and ch Phonograms and Movable Alphabet Spelling of Seashell, Shell, and Conch

Free Printables: letter s for seashell font card in cursive, sh shell phonogram card in cursive, and ch conch phonogram card in 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)

Again, this simply required printing out and cutting out the printable cards. We used our cursive movable alphabet. Zoey does a lot of handwriting in school so I don’t typically have her do handwriting practice. We’re more likely to use the movable alphabet.

We used the materials to review/analyze the spelling of seashell, shell, and conch. Zoey loves the conch shell, which we sometimes keep in our peace area. You can read more about it in my calming unit post.

Free Printable Alternative to Montessori Teen Boards with Bead Bars and Seashell Numbers 11-19

Tray with Free Printable Alternative to Montessori Teen Boards with Bead Bars and Seashell Numbers 11-19

Free Printable: Montessori Seguin Board Teen Numbers by Michelle Wareham at Teachers Pay Teachers

Free Printable: Seashell math cards 11-19 (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).

There are certain Montessori materials that I had as a Montessori teacher and school owner but wouldn’t purchase for a homeschool. The wooden teen and ten boards are lovely materials, but they take up a fairly large space on the shelves and can easily be substituted with printable teen and ten boards. Many homeschoolers use the printables with beads laid out horizontally. I like to introduce the teen numbers by laying the bead bars vertically, so I simply space out the number cards. That made it easy to add a matching activity with the seashell number cards from our Montessori-Inspired Seashell Pack. I also printed the numerals 11-19 on clam shells from the same set I used for letters for this unit.

Working with Printable Alternative to Montessori Teen Boards with Bead Bars and Seashell Numbers 11-19

I laid out the “teen boards” and bead bars, giving a traditional Montessori presentation. Then Caleb matched the seashell number cards and the clam shell numbers. He really enjoyed the activity, and the clam shell numbers were popular with Caleb, too!

Giant Seashell Hundred Board

Free Printable: Seashell Letter and Number Formation Cards by Structured Special Ed at Teachers Pay Teachers

This was really fun! I did this activity with Caleb. He’s starting to work with the numbers to 100, so I printed out the 100 number cards from the free printable. Even though I didn’t laminate them, it took longer than normal to prepare because there were 100 cards to cut out!

It took two large Montessori Services rugs for the layout. This was a lot of fun for both Caleb and me!

More Activities with Purchased (and Some Free) Materials for Our Seashell Unit

Seashell Collection with The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor Book and Magic School Bus Exploring Oceans Science Kit

On the shelf next to our seashell feature shelf, I added a few more seashell activities. The first tray has a fabulous seashell and sea life kit from Educational Insights. I had it from when I homeschooled my own kids years ago, and it’s no longer available. As I mentioned earlier, you can find assorted seashells on Amazon. The photos of seashells were on the inside of the box lid. Behind it, I added a couple of free printables, though, that are available. They’re very helpful for work with identifying a nd sorting seashells.

Free Printable: Seashell Mapping Chart by Beth Carter at Teachers Pay Teachers

Free Printable: Univalve and Bivalve Shell Sheet from MontessoriMaterials.org

Next to the tray is a favorite book from our homeschooling years: The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor. We got this book as soon as it was published, and it’s still great!

My grandkids love the Magic School Bus science kits so much that I got the Magic School Bus Rides Again: Exploring Oceans Science Kit. It’ll be lots of fun, I’m sure!

On the other side of the room is another shelf with seashell books and a couple of seashell activities.

Montessori Shelf with Seashell Books and Activities

On the other side of the room is a shelf with two Montessori-friendly fiction books: Seashells by the Seashore (a counting book that includes different facts about seashells)

and Liv’s Seashells (a book about honoring uniqueness by seeing the beauty in everything).

The activity on the easel and small try is the free poem “Five Little Seashells” and free printable Five Little Seashells Stick Puppets by Beth Moore at Teachers Pay Teachers. I like these sorts of activities for small groups or circle time.

Peace Area with Large Seashells and the Book Seashell Meditations for Children

This is our peace/mindfulness area right now. I’m featuring the book Seashell Meditations for Children by Patricia May along with two of the large seashells I’ve used more than once before. I like that the book has QR codes for each story to provide soft background sounds while the story is being read.⁠⁠
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In my free calming printables and Montessori-inspired calming activities post, you can see Zoey using the conch shell for creative writing (and the peace area behind her, featuring the seashells and another book I love for my peace/mindfulness area.

Montessori-Inspired Seashell 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).

Free Ocean Printables

Free Seashell Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download

Montessori-Inspired Ocean 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).

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

Free Seashell Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)

Free Ocean Printables and Montessori-Inspired Ocean Activities

Free Printable Ocean-Scene Preschool Number Sequence Puzzle from Montessori By Mom

Free Shark Printables and Montessori-Inspired Shark Activities

More Ocean Resources

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 a wonderful summer! 🙂

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

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