The May Idea Book provides a collection of Montessori-aligned activities to help you bring the season into your classroom. It’s like a photo album of ideas, offering practical and engaging ways to introduce sorting, phonological awareness, early math, and more.
This resource includes ideas for practical life, language, and cultural lessons that are easy to implement and designed to complement your existing Montessori materials. Whether you’re looking to add variety to your routine or bring in some seasonal inspiration, the activities in this book offer simple yet meaningful options.
All materials featured here are available through the Hands-On Kids Activities Club (HOKA), a monthly membership that supports curriculum planning for busy educators.

How To Get This Printable
This printable is available in the Resource Library. The Library is a free resource for our newsletter subscribers. If you’re not a subscriber yet, please sign up below and we’ll send you the password to access the Library!
Free Printable: May Idea Book

The May Idea Book provides a collection of Montessori-aligned activities to help you bring the season into your classroom. It’s like a photo album of ideas, offering practical and engaging ways to introduce sorting, phonological awareness, early math, and more. This resource includes ideas for practical life, language, and cultural lessons that are easy to…
May Themes for Preschool

Looking for May themes for preschool? May is a great month for exploring new themes and topics related to spring with your preschoolers. With warmer weather and longer days, there are plenty of opportunities to explore the outdoors and learn about the plants and animals that come to life during this season. You can plan…
Learning About Bees

Hands on activities for learning about bees in the preschool and Montessori classroom. When you’re working with preschoolers and young children, keep in mind that they need to have exposure to the real thing before working with abstract representations of it. This is particularly true for nature. Spend lots of time in nature. Get dirty, see…
Strawberry Patch

We enjoyed a family field trip to go strawberry picking last weekend! The weather was perfect The berries were plentiful And we couldn’t wait to eat them! Slicing strawberries with an egg slicer (affiliate link) Strawberry Theme Activities in the Classroom We had some red and berry themed activities on our fine motor shelf Spooning little…
On the Fine Motor Shelf in May

Sorting Birch Discs Sorting Paper Flowers Tonging Mini Eggs in Nests Tonging Feathers Spooning Seeds in Sunflower Dishes Spooning and Sorting Gems Pouring from a Mini Watering Can Using a Spoon and Funnel More Shelf Activities for Spring Preschool Literacy Activities for Spring Fine Motor Activities for Spring 18 Shelf Activities for Spring Learning About Flowers…
A Simple Montessori Graduation

Do We Really Need a Graduation for Preschool? I have struggled with this question over the years, and more so the last few when we’ve only had preschoolers in our class. Fancy graduation ceremonies for preschool have always left me feeling uneasy. Many of the typical graduation rituals seem so… developmentally inappropriate for this…
Painted Lady Butterflies

Painted Lady Butterflies are a common and well-known species of butterfly found in many parts of the world. They are easily recognizable by their colorful and patterned wings. In this lesson, we will explore the Painted Lady Butterfly’s life cycle, habitat, and role in the ecosystem. Studying Painted Lady Butterflies provides an excellent way for…
Flower Activities

We were given such a spectacular display of flowers for Teacher Appreciation week that we thought it was time to bring out our floral works! Sensorial Exploration Different Kinds of Flowers We have a ridiculous number of picture matching cards and they’re all out on the shelves! I may donate some of these to…
Happy Mother's Day

Trillium Moms are the best! You made our classroom look absolutely gorgeous with the stunning array of flowers you brought us for Teacher Appreciation week. Thank you for the love! We hope you enjoy the Mother’s Day books your children have been busy making for you all week! Mother’s Day Book Making Work Here…
Bugs! Fine Motor and Art Activities on the Shelf

We’ve been learning about bugs: butterflies, ladybugs, grasshoppers, spiders, and cicadas! Affiliate links are used in this post for your convenience. Read my full affiliate disclosure here. The children have begun to bring bugs in that they’ve discovered on their walks. Here we have a black and yellow millipede in this critter case. Examining cicada shells in…