13 Montessori Method Activities for Children

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Egbert Haynes
13 Montessori Method Activities for Children

We are going to present you some Montessori method activities that you can apply from home and in children 0-3 years old. Do you want to develop skills and competencies in your children from a young age? Doing so can make a big difference and they will even thank you for it..

The Montessori method has shown that it has great results in its students and if you apply it your children will learn skills that are not usually taught in traditional schools.

Activities for children 6-12 months

1. Treasure box

We not only see that it is used in Montessori activities but also in other types of environments.

Goals: That the child explore and analyze the material around him autonomously.

Process: In a basket or in a cardboard box we have to put the objects that we deem appropriate. For example: a toothbrush, spoons, hair ties, bows, a small ball ...

Materials: All the material that we want, it is important that we do not carry the box or basket that we use.

2. We change the site objects!

Goals: Explore and analyze that each material has its size and that not all of them fit in the same place.

Process: In a large tray we can put different materials such as chickpeas or chestnuts. Also, previously we will have placed spoons and cardboard tubes of different sizes with a part of them covered, so that they become small jars.

The children have to transfer the chickpeas and chestnuts from one place to another either with the help of the spoon, with their fingers or however they want. In this way they will check that there will be tubes in which both chickpeas and chestnuts fit, while in another they will only be able to put one of them.

Materials: small cardboard tubes of kitchen paper, a cardboard or a paper to cover one of the parts of it, chickpeas and chestnuts or other material, a large tray and wooden spoons.

3. Sensory trays

Goals: Explore and analyze the different textures of the materials in each tray.

Process: Use different trays with materials that have different textures to each other and bring them closer to the child. Our intention is for you to explore and play with them by carefully exploring their content. You can choose the content you want, the important thing is that its texture is different from each other. For example: flour, lentils, uncooked or cooked pasta, chickpeas ...

Materials: three or four trays and the material you want to fill them with, be it lentils, flour or pasta, among others.

Activities for children 12-18 months

4. We learn to open boats

Goals: That the child work on fine motor skills and learn to open and close boats.

Process: in a basket you are presented with different types of cans both in size and material. I usually use the jars that are spent in the kitchen, such as those for spices, among others. As long as they are of different sizes and materials, everything works.

Materials: jars of different sizes and materials, a basket or a small cardboard box.

5. We draw

Goals: Develop your creativity and have fun.

Process: As you know, there are finger paints that are edible or even that can be done at home simply with a yogurt and food coloring, I leave that to your choice..

On a sheet of paper or cardboard, the child must paint whatever he wants while exploring the texture of the paint and the base he is using to paint. They tend to like this activity a lot, especially because of the different colors that the paint has..

Materials: If you decide to make your painting at home, you will need yogurts and food coloring of different colors, also sheets and cardboard. The bigger they are, the better if you want to do the activity with several children.

6. Set of fabrics

Goals: Develop your imagination and discover that there are different types of fabrics.

Process: You already know that there are many ways and games to use fabrics with children. However, since we are using the Montessori method, we must let it develop its imagination and play with the fabrics as it prefers. When you show curiosity if we want, we can show you some games that you need to have a scarf for.

Materials: handkerchief of different colors and shapes.

Activities for children 18-24 months

At this age they can already do many activities for practical life that apart from promoting their independence, helps them to work on fine motor skills, prepare future writing, etc. Here are some activities:

7. We match socks

Goals: Identify socks of the same color and size.

Process: In a basket we will put different socks of colors and sizes. The idea is that the child knows how to match them and identify that this is what he has to do and not something else. For the activity to attract your attention, the ideal is that the socks have bright colors.

Materials: socks of different sizes and colors and shoe box or basket.

8. Stringing activities

Goals: Work fine and gross motor skills.

Process: Although there are also games and materials that can be bought in stores. We can also use other homemade with which the children can string the objects. This activity consists in that the children have to put the objects inside the cord in the order they want.

Materials: shoelaces or tracksuit, buttons, kitchen paper tubes cut into different sizes, plastic tube of pens, pieces of fabric with a hole in the center ... You can use any material you can think of.

9. We explore our environment

Goals:  Discover what your environment is made of.

Process: Although it is best if you go out and explore it for yourself if the weather allows you to go out for recess. We can also work on the environment that surrounds us using trays that we can fill with stones, sand, mud, water and tree leaves..

This activity can also help them to see that there are materials in the water that float and others that do not, although for that it would be better to use instead of a tray like the ones we have been using another of a deeper and more transparent type.

Materials: leaves, stones, sand, mud, water and everything we want to use that is in the playground.

Activities for children 24-36 months

10. Liquid transfers

Goals: Explore the water in the different containers.

Process: A plastic vase with water and others of different sizes will be placed next to it. The child will have to play to transfer the water from one container to another in order to check that all the amount of water that fits in a container can be used in addition to others of different sizes.

Materials: containers of different sizes and a vase filled with water.

11. Imitate the drawing

Goals: Develop visual and attention skills.

Process: Different easy-to-imitate drawings are presented to you. The children have to copy them with the help of colored pencils and sugar and salt. They can also be encouraged to make their own..

Materials: drawings made by teachers with colored pencils, sugar and salt; colors, sugar and salt and finally folios.

12. We classify objects by colors

Goals: Identify that each object has a different color.

Process: The child is presented with materials with different colors. Erasers, pencils, pencil sharpeners, cases, papers ... Everything that is close to us or is part of its environment. The child must place the materials that are of the same color in their corresponding basket.

Materials: colored baskets and different colored materials that we want to use.

13. What lid goes with each object?

Goals: Develop fine motor skills and know how to identify which lid goes with each bottle.

Process: In a cardboard box, place bottles, jars and jars of different sizes with their corresponding lids removed and mixed. The child will have to identify which cover goes with each of them and place it.

Materials: plastic bottles, jars, or any other object with lids that can be used for this activity.

Advice

As we already know, each child is different, so although we have classified these activities by stages, it does not mean that they can be carried out by all children in general..

This method is governed by the fact that the child is the one who will control the duration of the activities they carry out, including the activities and their learning. The teacher or the adult with whom it is carried out, only has to worry about giving the child the right environment to be able to learn, not intervening or avoiding stopping their spontaneous movements.

The activities that we have explained here must be put in the right environment and presented to the child when he shows attention for it, taking into account that at these ages the attention is very short, so it is necessary to show them how the activity would develop with our example.

The main objective behind this method is "help me do it myself", so children have to learn as they go to incorporate a sense of learning and achievement in the tasks and activities they do on a daily basis..

Many activities in this method are inspired to promote self-reliance, have integrated error control, appeal to the senses, and / or prepare the muscles of the fingers to hold the pencil..

And you, what other activities of the Montessori method do you know??


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