Salmon Life Cycle 3-Part Cards
It's now the beginning of March, and we're starting to thaw out, get muddy, and think about fishing in the sunshine. Springtime is also a good time to finish blog posts that I've had in my queue since last summer (haha). This project started last spring, when I asked my artistic husband to paint me some fish for my blog. He painted some trout and sold them, but never finished my paintings. I had been waiting for him to finish to launch a big fish learning unit with lots of printables. Well, I'm tired of having this unfinished project in my blog dashboard, so I've decided to get it out in the world anyways. All this week, I'll have lots of fun fishy activities for creating your own theme unit.
I was very surprised how hard it was to find fish products for kids! There are very few freshwater books, especially nonfiction ones, and even less fish toys that are realistic. There's a lot more options for ocean fish, which is good news if you live near the ocean. Since I'm raising mountain children, who are much more likely to encounter trout, bass, and salmon, I'm focusing on freshwater fish only. Click on the colored text to get more information about each thing.
When I first started this project over a year ago, there were no fish life cycle sets available. I complained (suggested) to Safari Ltd that they make one, since they already had a number of life cycle sets in their collection. Finally, a few month ago, they released these amazing salmon life cycle figurines. I was so excited and new that it was finally time to post this printable!
> > > Get the Life Cycle Figurines < < <
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After you've put in your email address into the box, check your inbox for the confirmation email. Open the email and click on the button to confirm your subscription. You'll get a second email with a link to download the printable. Download the PDF from the protected page. Print the first two pages twice and laminate them for long-term use. Then, cut out all the cards and separate them by sets. Leave one set of cards exactly as they are- with the picture and label attached. With the second set of cards, cut the label off the pictures to make two piece. The card with a picture and label, the card with just a picture, and the card with the label now make the three parts of the traditional Montessori 3-part cards.
Once you have the three cards, you can present them to your child in the traditional Montessori method. Have the child match the picture card with the label to the other two cards. They can also match the Safari Ltd Salmon Life Cycle Set to the picture cards or label the figurines with the cards. The child can also spell out the words with a movable alphabet like printable cards or shaped letters.
You can also chose not to separate the picture from the label to make a set of cards for a classic memory match. You can your child can take turns choosing two cards and seeing if they're a match. If they are a pair, then that player gets to keep them. If they're not a match, the player must turn them over and the other player gets a turn.
You may also want to print just one copy of the cards and allow your child to match the Safari Ltd Salmon Life Cycle Set to the pictures. Together, you can talk about the animal names, where they live, and sort them by type. The figurines are great in messy play, sensory bins, and more! My kids love to play with them, especially outside.
The Safari Ltd Salmon life cycle figurines are great for sensory bins, too! This one is super simple with just a 15 bean soup mix and nothing else. You can add cups, tongs, scoops, and other types of things to make the bin more interactive. Kids can find the toys in the bin and match them to the printable in this post. Of course, kids would also love playing with these in water, which makes them great for summer play and camping.
If you love Montessori printables, there are few better resources than Renae at Every Star is Different. She (and her whole family) create these huge packets of learning materials on all different subjects. Her fish pack is no exception. It contains 3-part cards with descriptions to sort freshwater and saltwater fish. It also includes a sort for fish vs other animals that look like fish but aren't actually fish. There are a series of fact cards for kids to guess which fish is being described and a match up for fish and the dangers they face. Be sure to check out all her other resources when you click the link below.
> > > Get the Printables < < <
Come back all week for more salmon life cycle fun!
Let me know what you want to see me do next in the comments below!
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