montessorichapters

Free Printable – Mini Postcards

This week’s freebie is a little postcard, designed to help you write down and remember your family’s favourite moments! I realised in our family that there are many times when something funny or memorable happens, but often it’s not something that is captured by a photo. So I created these little postcards for you to write moments down – it could be a funny thing your child (or anyone in your family!) has said, or something that happened that made you smile. There is also a space for the date at the bottom.

Then you can look back on them (at the end of each year, or any time really) and have a laugh or remember that moment, that may otherwise have been forgotten! I got ours printed online from Printed.com (we are in the UK) and you can just upload the A7 size JPG file on their Postcards section https://www.printed.com/order-wizard/product-options/postcards. Or you could print them at home. I keep the blank and written on postcards with all of our pens and stationery in the living room, so that it’s easy to grab one and write in it anytime.

You can download the individual A7 (105x74mm) JPG file, or I have also created many to an A4 or US Letter page, if you wanted to print them that way and then cut them up. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD (A7 INDIVIDUAL POSTCARD)

DOWNLOAD (A4 PAGE OF POSTCARDS)

DOWNLOAD (US LETTER PAGE OF POSTCARDS)

Botanical 2021 Linear Calendar

This week’s freebie was available from 23rd Dec – 30th Dec 2020 and is now available to purchase here: https://etsy.me/3nH6tPc) – a botanical linear 2021 calendar PDF for you to print at home and put up in a line along your walls. This helps children to understand the dates more visually and you could add key dates or events, plus use a peg to mark ‘today’ each day.

Freebie – lemons and oranges prints

Today’s freebie – a set of 2 prints featuring lemon and orange patterns that I have collected. You could frame these and put them around your child’s kitchen set up or next to their food table both as beautiful wall art and also to help them learn about the different fruits we eat.

I try to find small frames, take the glass layer out and replace it with acetate that I have cut down to size (usually from some old files or paperwork we have in the house anyway) or a spare punched pocket for files that I have cut up. This way it’s safer but still easy to clean. I then put the artwork in and hang it up, usually with velcro stickers.

This pair of prints are 5×7 inches each and available on an A4 page or a Letter sized page. Enjoy!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Letter size

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: A4 page size

Freebie – Vegetables print – set of 2

Today’s freebie – a set of 2 prints with vegetable illustrations that I have collected, and their names next to them. You could frame these and put them around your child’s kitchen set up or next to their weaning table both as beautiful wall art and also to help them learn about the different vegetables we eat.

I try to find small frames, take the glass layer out and replace it with acetate that I have cut down to size (usually from some old files or paperwork we have in the house anyway) so that it’s safer but still easy to clean. I then put the artwork in and hang it up with velcro stickers.

This PDF print is available in 2 sizes: 15x10cm (2 to an A4 page) and half Letter (2 to a US Letter page). Enjoy!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Half Letter size (2 to a Letter page)

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: 10 x 15cm size (2 to a A4 page)

Freebie – Bedtime routine printable

Today’s freebie – a set of 12 printable bedtime routine icons and a blank board with spaces to put them on in your preferred order. It can be read in rows, each row from left to right (this can prepare them for future reading skills too, as well as having the words underneath each icon). This is for young children and can help them understand what they will be doing next during their routine. It can be great to also give them some choices where possible in their routine so that they feel they are involved.

You can print both the icons and your choice of board (8 or 10 spaces) and then cut the icons out and stick them on, or you could laminate and use velcro if you think you might change the order of them in the future. If you are making it editable, it would be wonderful if you could pass it on to another family or donate to charity once your family is finished using it, so that another family can benefit from it.

Another idea (if using velcro) is to print 2 copies of the board and your child can move each completed activity to the next board. Or you could use the 10 space one if you only have 5 activities, move them down to the next line.

I put this printable together with the aim of helping your child with their bedtime routine. It can also be helpful to remind the parent or caregiver what is next! And also anytime there is another caregiver or grandparent helping, who isn’t sure what order to do things in. It is also designed to look stylish in your home.

There are 3 pages of the PDF. To download the 4 page PDF (2 paper sizes available: A4 and Letter size) click the buttons below:

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: A4 size

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Letter size

If you print and make this and want to share it, I would love to see! You can tag me over on Instagram. It’s also where I regularly share what we are doing – you can check it out here.

If you have any other comments, feedback or just want to say hi, feel free to email me montessorichapters@gmail.com 🙂

Freebie – Kitchen herbs print

Today’s freebie – a print with kitchen herb illustrations that I have collected, and their names underneath. Ideal to have around your little one’s kitchen set up or next to their weaning table both as beautiful wall art and also to help them learn about the different herbs we cook with.

This PDF print is available in 4 sizes: 15x10cm, A5, Letter and half Letter. Enjoy!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: 15x10cm size

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: A5 size

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Letter size

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Half letter size

Freebie – Toy Storage Labels

Today’s freebie – a set of 24 printable toy storage labels, created to help you keep organised with all of the rotations of the work and materials.

Each label measures 7.5 x 7.5cm (approx 3×3 inches) and there are 6 to a page (4 pages total). They should fit perfectly onto Trofast drawers and Expedit / Kallax inserts and you could attach them to baskets too.

You can print them out and laminate them or keep them as they are. With 24 labels to choose from, I hope that it covers everything you might need! I have also included ‘current rotations’ and ‘future rotations’ as this is something that we have in our storage for work and materials. I love having 2 boxes with specific current and future rotations in mind.

There are 4 pages of the PDF. To download the 4 page PDF (2 paper sizes available) click the buttons below:

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: A4 size

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Letter size

Freebie – Autumn leaf squirrel printable

Today’s freebie – a craft idea to use the last of the beautiful autumn leaves. My son’s favourite things at the moment are squirrels and we love looking for them in the park, so I decided to create a DIY squirrel artwork and here I am sharing the printable so that you can make it, too.

Collect your favourite leaves and stick them on to the squirrel tail outline to make a lovely piece of artwork. On the photo above, I had just placed the leaves on (not stuck them down yet). Pressing the leaves with something heavy like a few books overnight should make them more flat and easier to stick down.

For younger children, you could focus on collecting the leaves together and then you could do the sticking part. You could cut the whole thing out beforehand and then mount it on to a coloured piece of card afterwards. To download the PDF (2 paper sizes available) click the buttons below:

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: A4 size

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Letter size

Freebie – Animal Flash Cards

Today’s freebie – a set of 3 part animal illustration flash cards featuring 12 animals, which can be used in a variety of ways.

For younger children, you could print the first 2 pages twice and just use the images, to play a game of matching the same pictures to each other. Or you could use the images alone to match them to real animal figurines that you have. (You could save the word parts for a little later on).

For older children, you can start to use the cards with the picture and word on for identification, looking at words starting with certain letters, etc. And then move on to reading and matching the separate word parts to the pictures.

There are 4 pages of the PDF: the first 2 with the pictures and words separately and the last 2 of the pictures and words on the same card. To download the 4 page PDF (2 paper sizes available) click the buttons below:

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: A4 size

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: 8.5 x 11 size

Hello! A little introduction…

Welcome! Thanks so much for visiting my blog. Here is a little bit about me…

Hello! I am a UK based Mum to a little boy and have been practising Montessori inspired parenting since he arrived in the Summer of 2018.

I first found out about Montessori by complete chance, through a Montessori book that was given to me. I then watched this 5 minute cartoon sketch video on Youtube explaining what Montessori was and I have loved it from that moment on. I have since been reading books, listening to podcasts and widening my knowledge on the subject of Montessori, gentle parenting and free range parenting concepts.

I feel so grateful that Maria Montessori brought together the ideas for this philosophy and that I found out about it just before I became a parent. It feels really right for us as a family and I think my son really appreciates being given lots of opportunities for independence and freedom, in his prepared environment at home. We also try and to make sure he also gets outside as much as possible, usually for several hours each day.

I absolutely love hunting for Montessori inspired things second hand, whether at car boot sales in the summer, charity shops or on Facebook Marketplace. I think it’s definitely possible to live the philosophy and not spend a lot of money on the items.

I also enjoy all things creative and love designing. I have recently designed some printable things for my son and I will be sharing these on this blog – check out the ‘Freebies’ button at the top to see them.

On this blog and on my Instagram account I share our daily family life and things that we discover including tips, hacks and DIY projects. Also I feature podcasts, books and resources that have really helped me with my parenting so far, plus products we love. It’s so lovely to be part of a community of like-minded people. If you have any other comments, feedback or just want to say hi, feel free to email me montessorichapters@gmail.com