Montessori Method is one of the more popular and efficient methods used for children education. It’s a great way to track your child’s growth and help him develop new skills along the way. This method has been around for over 100 years and from its basic premise, several different activities have been born and today we’re going to about just that, activities inspired by Montessori Method of Education. Without further ado, let’s get started.
1. Sorting buttons
Naturally, this isn’t an activity you would have your toddler engage, for obvious reasons, but a child who has learned not to put anything in their mouth is more than fit for this exercise. Present your child with a lot of different buttons, both in colour and size and some bowls to throw them in. Show them which belong where and let them sort them accordingly. It’s a great exercise for motor and cognitive skills.
2. Have them cut some vegetables
Give your child a small cutting board, a chopper or a plastic knife, some towels and all the things you might need when chopping up some carrots or cucumbers. Of course, don’t expect your kids to do them julienne, just show them how it’s done and let them try on their own. All kids love chopping up and breaking stuff.
3. Have them prepare their own trail mix
Give your child some cereal, dried fruit, nuts and some stuff that you’d regularly mix for them and have them mix it themselves. Give them a scoop and let them mix it all up, it’s fun and it’ll lead to a meal. If your kid is older and understands recipes, you can make a simple one and have them follow it.
4. Washing windows
It a very popular Montessori activity and it is very simple. All you need to do is make some window washing liquid, don’t use store-bought because of all the chemicals, just mix some vinegar into water and fill up the spray bottle, give them a sponge or a cloth and let them do it. It’s both fun and useful!
5. Scrubbing
Scrubbing is one of the favourite activities for the children, it’s wet, it’s fun and they can see what’s going on. Of course, there will be a mess, but cleaning that up is kind of the point of scrubbing. It’s simple to organize – you just need some towels, water, brush, maybe some soap. They’ll just love scrubbing things like dirty boots or tables.
6. ‘Washing’ dolls
If you’re expecting a baby sometime soon, this may be a good way to introduce your child to a good way to clean another person. Have them wipe the doll with some wet wipes or cleaning cloth, whatever you seem fit. It’ll be adorable when they wipe their siblings face.
7. Watering plants
A great and simple way for your kids to learn about plants and responsibility. Give them a small bucket and show them how they can check if the plant needs water.
8. Have them pick things off the shelf
It’s a great way to practice motor skills as well as build responsibility. You don’t have to give your child a glass every time it wants some water, they can do it themselves. If the shelf’s too high, you can always provide them with a step stool, like the one from Katanabana.
9. Matching socks
Similar as to sorting buttons, have your child match a pair of socks after they’ve been washed. It’s a great visual exercise and it might serve as a good foundation for a responsible life later on.
10. Sweeping floor
Kids tend to sweep thing even if you don’t give them a small broom, so why not just give them one? It’ll be a great practical exercise and it’ll teach them how to take care of the house. You can even have them mop the floor, the premise is essentially the same. They’ll see the results so it will keep them occupied.
11. Play guessing games – touch
A great way to train their senses, the touch sense, in this case, is to have them guess the item their touching. Have some of their favourite toys or other objects they frequently interact with, put them in a bag and have the kid guess, solely on touch, what it is that they’re touching.
12. Play guessing games – the smell
In essence, the premise is the same, have the child smell some items and try and identify them. You can go further and have several things with pairs of matching smells and have your child identify and pair them up.
13. Simple yoga
Have your child do some basic yoga poses for fun and some physical ‘training’. Show them how to do it yourself or try and have them replicate it off of cards with poses drawn on them. Either way, it’s good and fun to watch your kid do his best Bhujangasana. It’s just a simple cobra pose, it’ll just sound fancy when you tell your friends your child can do that.
14. Playing ‘basketball’
This is more of a throw the little ball into a plastic hoop than the actual basketball, but nevertheless an amazing activity for your child. If possible, have two baskets on opposite sides and have your kid throw it from one to another.
15. Painting
All kids will love to paint. Let’s not be mistaken, we’re not talking about drawing or scribbling, which could and should be done – we’re talking about actual painting. Be prepared for a potential giant mess, but that’s all part of the process. Start them off easy, just a couple of colours and teach them how to clean their brushes and after themselves, then gradually increase the number of colours.
16. Sculpting
More like playing with play-doh or clay, but you get the point. Have your kids squeeze and form clay into all kinds of different shapes and sizes. This will also come in handy later as it will strengthen their hands and prepare them for writing.
17. Colour mixing
A great addition to painting, show your child how to mix colours. It’s a great cognitive exercise but be prepared for a lot of brown until they learn.
18. Making pasta necklaces
This is a great and fun activity that boosts your kids’ creativity as well as motor skills. Have them paint macaroni and then thread the string through it creating a necklace.
Hopefully, this list of several developing Montessori activities will come in handy the next time you’re stuck indoors and aren’t able to let your kid run around and play in the backyard.
