Pondlife Following Directions Busy Book Freebie

Want to support and track your child’s understanding of the positional concepts in, on, & under? Get ready to follow directions with this FREE positional concepts pond activity!

The contents of this activity, such as text, graphics, images, information, as well as other material and content contained in this activity are for informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding your child’s development.

This activity features language and cognitive development concepts children learn throughout their early childhood years as a toddler, preschooler, and within their early elementary school years. Specific age milestone information can be found with a simple internet search!

To download this activity now, sign up below to get a secret password sent to your inbox to unlock this activity and much more!

Great! Let’s get started with this ADORABLE pond life activity!

First, let’s print and laminate the pond background scene and animals/insects. You’ll notice I cut out the animal/insect cutouts and placed them around the pond.

Then, attach either dot adhesives (soft side) for use in your child’s interactive binder book or magnets for use on a magnet board to the back of the picture cutouts. Additionally, place dot adhesives (rough side) on the pond life background scene. Hole punch the top of the sheet for use in your child’s interactive binder book. Note: Adult Supervision is required. Use caution with the magnets, dot adhesives, and small pieces as they are not intended for use with children under the age of 3. Please use caution and supervise your child with the dot adhesives, magnets and small pieces when working on this activity. Only work on activities that you feel are safe for your child. Warning: Choking Hazard. Children under 3 should not participate in any activities that involve small pieces.

Is your child under 3? The Activity Garden includes a modified version of this activity available in bigger print for younger toddlers. Small pieces, magnets, and dot adhesives are not intended for use with the bigger print activities. Please remember that adult supervision is required with all activities shared on Simplicity Happens. Just a kind reminder to stay safe and have fun while learning with your little ones!

I put adhesive dots (soft side) on the back of the animal picture cutouts.

Then, put adhesive dots (rough side) on the pond background scenes. There are two background scenes. One is for the matching activity and the other is for the following directions activity. You’ll notice I also hole-punched the background scenes for future storage in my son’s interactive play binder book.

Matching picture to picture background scene

There are following directions prompts on the animal/insects cutouts page such as, “Put the bird in the sky.” You can use these prompts while working with your child, but you can also make up your own. More than likely, your little ones will decide as well. Just follow their lead while playing with this activity! You can get really silly! You might even see the fish in the sky! It’ll make for great conversation!

Now that the activity has been set up, let’s get to the PLAY experience!

Matching

This activity can be used for matching picture to picture.

My son matches the picture cutouts to the “same” picture on the “Matching” background scene.

First, he matches the turtle and the frog.

Last, he matches the butterfly! Great job! I tell him he did an amazing job matching all of the animals/insects!

I keep a record of his receptive labeling knowledge during this activity for future play activities in my “Activity Garden: Goal Tracking Sheets” booklet.

This booklet includes over 30 tracking sheets for use with each playful activity in the Activity Garden. This booklet can be found in the Simplicity Happens store!

I then keep track of his progress on this specific activity in my Activity Garden Tracking Sheet booklet:

Receptive Labeling

This activity can be used for receptively labeling the pond life vocabulary.

First, my son and I go through the pictures together. I want to determine his ability to identify the pond life pictures when I name them. This demonstrates his ability to receptively label pond life vocabulary.

First, we work on receptive labeling:

I ask him to, “Point to the fish.” Great job!

I ask him to, “Point to the bird.” Awesome!

I ask him to point to the butterfly, frog, and bee and he does! Last, I ask him to, “Point to the turtle.” Yeah! If he ever needs help, I point to the animal/insect and say, “Here is the turtle. Now you point to the turtle.” Then, I tell him what an amazing job he did finding all of the animals/insects!

I then keep track of his progress with receptive labeling activity in my Activity Garden Tracking Sheet booklet.

Expressive Labeling

This activity can be used for expressively labeling the pond life vocabulary.

Next, my son and I go through the pond life vocabulary together. I want to determine his ability to identify pond life vocabulary when I point to the picture and ask, “What is this?” This demonstrates his ability to expressively label pond life vocabulary.

Now, we work on expressive labeling:

I point to the butterfly and ask, “What is this?”
My son replies, “a butterfly.” Very good!

I point to the frog and ask, “What is this?”
My son replies, “a frog.” Great job!

I point to the bee and ask, “What is this?”
My son replies, “a bee.” Awesome!

I point to the fish and the turtle and my son names both of them. Last, I point to the bird and ask, “What is this?”
My son replies, “a bird.”
If he needs support naming any of the animals/insects, I point to the animal/insect and say, “This is a bird. What is this?”

Last, I tell him what a great job he did naming all of the animals/insects.

Receptive: Following Directions with Positional Concepts

First, my son follows one-step directions with positional concepts.

I ask him to, “Put the butterfly on the rock.”

Great job putting the butterfly on the rock!

I ask him to, “Put the frog on the log.” Very Good!

I ask him to, “Put the fish under the log.” Great job! If he needs support with this activity, I show him and say, “I’m putting the fish under the log. Now it’s your turn to put the fish under the log.” Then, I tell him what an amazing job he is doing on following directions!

He’s doing great with the one-step directions with positional concepts. I think he’s ready for a multi-step direction with positional concepts!

I ask him to, “Put the bird in the sky and the turtle under the pond flowers.” Great work!

If he needs help, I show him and say, “I am putting the bird in the sky and the turtle under the pond flowers. Now it’s your turn to put the bird in the sky and the turtle under the pond flowers!” Then, I tell him he is rocking these directions!

Expressive: Following Directions with Positional Concepts

Now it’s time to flex that expressive knowledge muscle!

First, my son leads the activity by choosing where he wants the animals/insects to go! He puts the frog under the log, the bird on the log, and the butterfly in the sky!