I get questions frequently about certain printables I offer, from moms wanting to know what they are intended to be used for. In honor of these questions, I am doing a series of blog posts, based on the printables I get the most questions about! If there is a printable included in a Preschool Pack, Tot Pack, or others, that you have wondered about, let me know in the comments and I will add it to my list of future posts!
First up, dot fun printables!
I am certainly not the only one to offer these, they have been around for years. I offer dot fun printables in a few locations on my site.
Animal ABC {this is mostly what you see in the post since we are currently using these. These are a part of the Animal ABC Bundle, or can be purchase by themselves at Teacher’s Notebook here.
Facebook Fan Freebie ~ this is an additional set of dot fun animals {not a complete a-z set, just extra animals for the letters that had them}
Tot/Preschool Packs that have dot fun: Dora, Little Einsteins, Baby Animals, Octonauts, {there may be more, those are the ones I could remember!}
You can also find TONS of dot fun activities on Making Learning Fun {look under letter M they call them magnet pages}, Homeschool Creations, and more. Here’s a great post from Simply Montessori with a great collection of dot printables she has found online! People call them different things, but they are all the pages with the blank dots on them!
Here are a few of my ideas of how to use these printable in a variety of ways! If you have more ideas, leave them in the comments!
The most obvious is usually dot paint! This is fun, and a one use item. Once it’s painted on, it’s usually done.
Another one use item is small stickers. Stickers work on many fine motor skills and are really good for tots to explore. When my tots are young, I line the stickers up as shown on the left, to allow as much independence as possible.
Markers are another way to use dot fun pages. My daughter likes to color in the circles, which is great fine motor work also. If you’ve ever seen the Kumon Let’s Color workbook, you’ll notice the similarities.
If you are brave, get out the glitter for your tot and let him/her shake it on the glue you put on the letters!
Finger Paint is another fun use. It takes great concentration, as you can see! She really loved this!
Want to use your dot fun multiple times? Slip it into a sheet protector or a dry erase center, then get out your play dough! Roll balls with your tot, then find a small object for your tot to smoosh into the balls for extra fine motor work!
Grab a cookie sheet and use small home made magnets to put on the dots. You can buy magnets, or you can make your own. We have pom pom magnets and gem magnets. I made both with a glue gun, mini magnets, and that’s it!
Helpful Dot Fun Items…
Remember ~ when using small objects with young children, they need constant supervision. Many of the items suggested are choking hazards and should never be in the hands of a young child who isn’t properly supervised.
See more “Ideas for Using” posts ~
