Simple Magnetic or Velcro Calendar Activity Using Free Printables {Montessori Monday}

I’ve been looking for a simple-to-prepare calendar activity that would work for my 2-year-old granddaughter, Zoey. I finally decided on an activity that should be simple to prepare each month as well as adaptable for a number of ages.

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

Supplies Needed:

For Magnetic Calendar Activity:

• Free Printable Monthly Calendars (2018 calendars)
• Month and Number Cards
• Magnetic Board, such as Melissa & Doug Magnetic Chalk/Dry Erase Board, Little Partners Easel, Little Partners Free-Standing Easel, or even a cookie sheet
• Magnetic Fasteners for Calendar, such as Power Magnets (many uses, especially with do-a-dot printables) for Preschoolers and Melissa & Doug Wooden Animal Magnets for Toddlers (see post with Montessori 3-period lesson for toddlers)
• Magnet Hold Its for calendar number and word cards
• Laminator and Laminating Pouches

For Velcro Calendar Activity:

• Free Printable Monthly Calendars (2018 calendars)
• Month and Number Cards
• Velcro Dots
• Laminator and Laminating Pouches

Simple Montessori-Inspired Magnetic or Velcro Calendar Activity for Toddlers or Preschoolers

I chose to make my calendar activity magnetic because Zoey loves magnetic activities. In the photo, I didn’t show the magnets I would use to hold the calendar on a magnetic easel because of the danger of small magnets with toddlers. For preschoolers, I love Power Magnets for holding up papers, making designs, and using with fun do-a-dot learning activities. For toddlers, I’d recommend using larger magnets, such as the Melissa & Doug Wooden Animal Magnets, which are fun for toddlers for a variety of activities. (Note: if you’re using the calendar on a flat surface like the Melissa & Doug Magnetic Chalk/Dry Erase Board, you really don’t need magnets for the paper, just magnetic dots on the back of each small card.

This was an easy activity to put together. I simply had to print out and laminate the calendar pages (I printed out January and February to have 2 months ready). I printed out and laminated the winter calendar number and word printables from 3 Dinosaurs as well. I set my printer for multiple pages and printed out 4 pages at a time to make them small enough to fit on a single-sheet calendar. 3 Dinosaurs has numbered calendars you could use. I just decided to use the ones from Scattered Squirrel so that I had extra room on each square. I liked being able to see both numbers, and I think it would be less frustrating for a toddler to place the number cards on squares that don’t require an exact fit.

 

What I’ll do is add the number for the day each day throughout the month. Then Zoey can independently match the magnetic number cards to the numbers on the calendar.

I also printed out the do-a-dot snowman calendar pages from the same printable at 3 Dinosaurs. Zoey loves Do-a-Dot markers, although I’ll save each page until the end of the month and go through the numbers 1-31 with her then. (She wouldn’t want to do just one number each day.)

3 Dinosaurs also has calendar printables with just snowmen or just snowflakes. When Zoey is a preschoolers, I think I’ll use the free calendar connections calendar cards from 1+1+1=1 for themed learning activities throughout the year. Later (or even as additional calendar activities in the same year), I’ll probably use some of the 3 Dinosaurs calendar activities with cutting and pasting or tracing numbers.

A Velcro calendar is even easier to prepare than a magnetic one, since it doesn’t require a magnetic surface for the calendar and numbers to stick to. I recommend choosing whichever will appeal most to your child.

More Montessori-Inspired Activities for Calendars and Seasons

In my Activity of the Week – Montessori-Inspired Months and Seasons Work, you’ll find two great resources for Montessori homeschools. For a Montessori homeschool, you might want a more elaborate calendar system, such as the one featured in my activity-of-the-week post. My calendar system is designed to be very simple.

You’ll find more months and seasons activities using printables in this post: Montessori-Inspired Months and Seasons Activities for Hands-on Learning.

I’ll introduce winter vocabulary cards with my granddaughter soon. I’ll use a similar method to what we used in my post on teaching toddlers about fall with the Montessori 3-period lesson.

Zoey still loves her snowman sensory bin, so that’ll remain for awhile longer.

Our Instant Snow sensory bin has lasted using a covered container, so we’ll continue to use that for phonetic sounds as well as counting activities.

 

In last week’s Montessori Monday post, you’ll find LOTS and LOTS of ideas for Montessori-inspired winter-themes and activities (as well as links to calendar activities for each month).

You’ll find some fun songs about months of the year in my “Free New Year’s Songs and Rhymes for Circle time.”

Winter with young children wouldn’t be complete without winter songs and rhymes. See my “Free Winter Songs and Rhymes for Circle Time” post. Note: If you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, you’ll find some fun songs in my “Free Summer Songs and Rhymes for Circle Time.”

You can find even more seasonal posts in my seasons category.

More New Year’s Resources

Amazon Affiliate:

• Starting and Nurturing New Year’s Traditions
• Preparing for New Year’s Family Celebrations
• Simple Magnetic or Velcro Calendar Using Free Printables
• Free New Year’s Songs and Rhymes for Circle Times
• Montessori-Inspired Months and Seasons Activities for Hands-on Learning
• Montessori New Year’s Celebration
• Free Months and Seasons Printables and Montessori-Inspired Months and Seasons Activities
• Free Months and Seasons Songs and Educational Videos
• The Best Months and Seasons Books for Kids
• Free Months and Seasons Do-a-Dot Printables (Montessori-Inspired Instant Phonics Download)
• Calendar Activities for Kids Pinterest Board

Follow Deb @ Living Montessori Now’s board Kids’ New Year’s Activities on Pinterest.

I hope you and your family have an absolutely wonderful New Year! 🙂

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