So we’ve done the Montessori continent globe, the continent map, and now it’s time for some 3-part cards! My general rule is that I only make my own printable cards if what I want doesn’t already exist for free — and I found these beautiful Montessori continents 3-part cards from The Helpful Garden, so we’re using those. You can get them here.
Note: These 3-part cards use the term “Oceania” instead of “Australia.” I changed mine back to “Australia” because that is the name of the physical geological continent, while “Oceania” is the name of the geopolitical region. Whichever name you use, be consistent across all of your materials.
By the time I presented this work, L was already very familiar with the names of the continents. I placed the first card for each down (the one with the picture and the caption together) and L named each. Then we found the cards with just the pictures, and L matched them to the correct continents. Finally, we matched the captions to each pair. L can’t read yet, but this is a great pre-reading activity — she can match the words as patterns.
For an extension to this work, we brought out our felt map and globe with the cards. We matched the felt continents to each continent card (L wanted to put them right on top), then found them on the globe.
For another extension, we completed the 3-part cards, then used the caption cards to label the felt map.
Then, because I just can’t get enough of extensions, we used our continent cards to sort our Children of the World cards. These cards are designed to work perfectly with Montessori continent activities — each one has a small picture of the color-coordinated continent where the child lives, so this was easy enough for a pre-reading child to complete. I believe the Etsy shop is no longer open, so I’ll link the maker’s Instagram account here.
I love using all these materials together to reinforce the concepts!
I could seriously use these myself 😂. I’ll relearn alongside my kindergartener.
I’m still waiting for my hubby to print me the map for the felt continent, but this seems like a good extension. Do the children of the world cards include any information, like culture or history?
No information, just photographs with the name of the country and the picture of the continent in corresponding color.
Very cool–I’ve been trying to come up with a hands-on way for my kiddos to learn geography. This looks very fun/effective.
I’m your new follower! I have 2 lil ones (2 1/2 and 1 y/o) I plan to homeschool. I find your website a good resource of fun and educational activities. Thanks for sharing!