Alligator themed toddler and preschool activities

Guess what! Guess what! Guess what! I finally am getting back to the swing of making printables, setting up trays, and actually photographing them and blogging about it! Here are my first photos that I have taken since my accident and the first set of trays that I managed to set up at the centre!

I can’t wait to bring the rest of my ideas that have been on hold to life! For now, here’s what I have done with the alligator printables I shared last week!

Preschool activities: FREE alligator printables and activities by Welcome to Mommyhood #preschoolactivities, #toddleractivities, #montessori, #freeprintables

Math and counting

Let’s start this off with one that’s for kids that can already count and have a solid base in their numbers. I thought it would be fun to have a ‘guess how many game! to our shelves. I simply filled a jar with leftover Easter eggs (‘alligator eggs’). Your child can guess how many eggs are in the jar or you can just have them spoon/take them out of the jar and count them. A simple way to reinforce counting.

Depending on how well your child can count, you can add as few and many eggs.

This is one that reuses those ‘alligator eggs’ for a simple and fun math work. I only added an extra element of challenge/intrigue by placing the eggs into a sort of ‘nest’ that I made from an old curtain.

Mr. Toddler simply had to trace the numbers with his finger, and then lay out the corresponding quantity of eggs underneath/above/next to the number. Easy and fun!

The presentation:

And another shot just because I’m super excited about getting back to photography!

Alternative set up:

Size sorting

I repurposed our decorative Easter eggs and asked Mr. Toddler to sort them into the jars – small and large ones into separate jars, making sure Mr. Toddler will be moving left to right as he completes this work.

Counting alligators

I used my counting cards from my alligator printables and stickers to create a hands on counting work for Mr. Toddler! All he had to do was add the corresponding quantity of alligators onto the card. I actually love these cards because they can be re-used with so many different animals and bugs.

I ended up keeping this activity up on our table. Note: me being at a rehabilitation centre means that our shelving unit is obviously not in use. I put the trays on a table and let Mr. Toddler get in a chair (or my lap because clearly chair = mommy) and pick his trays like that.

While not ideal, the table approach works as a temporary solution. After I come home and after construction on our house is done, I think that we can have a simple shelving unit that is both mommy (wheelchair) and toddler friendly.

Back to the works, I kept the counting cards up because Mr. Toddler simply needed the review and found the work interesting. I cut out some numbers from alligator ‘skin’ themed foam paper. Mr. Toddler had to trace them with his finger and then match them to the number cards. Again, he also had to place the corresponding quantity of alligator stickers on each card.

Language

This is pretty simple. Mr. Toddler had to match the alligator themed 3 part cards I made to each other. He cannot read yet so we use them as pre-reading cards, but this is a great way to work on learning new words!

Reading/writing/letter recognition

This is one we haven’t done yet, but it’s a letter a play dough mat.

Colours

We used alligator colour cards that I made in several steps.

Step 1: Colour the alligators

Again, I present Mr. Toddlers materials so he moves left to right. The cards are on the left, and crayons/colouring materials are in the box on the right. I only present a few cards at a time for him (3-4).

Step 2: Match the cards

Once Mr. Toddler has coloured all of the cards the corresponding colours (I read the labels), he will have made his own pre-reading cards! Or half of them!

I also made a set of cards with the alligators already coloured in, and he can match the ones he coloured to the printed ones! He loves seeing his work like that!

Practical life

Spooning ‘alligator eggs’ (white rocks)

Pouring water

Because alligators live in water, it makes sense to have a water pouring work. You could also add blue food colouring for a fun effect. We are starting to really need to work on pouring into more than one container, but you get the idea here.

Note: I also like to add a sponge or cloth for spills. Mr. Toddler pours without spilling now, but I still add it just in case. And pouring works are still his absolute favourite.

Science

Mr. Toddler loved and finished this alligator life cycle work incredibly quickly! You can get it here! He was very mystified by the eggs and kept saying ‘baby alligator’ when he saw the juvenile card (the term for a baby alligator). It was so much fun to watch him complete this work with excitement and ease actually!

Free printables

To get your own FREE alligator printable set, be sure to visit my Alligator Printable Pack post or click on the image below!

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