Montessori Activity: Inserting Ice-Cream Sticks

Age: From 1 year old

Objective: To train fine motor skills in a fun way

Materials:

1. Piggybank with opening at the top

2. 5-10 ice-cream sticks

3. 1 tray (optional)

Directions:

1. Demonstrate to your child how to do it.

2. Invite your child to try

Additional Information:

Don't be discouraged if your child is not interested or could not do it. Each child develops differently. Our Little FECS only did this activity at 2 years old, while our Baby FECS is doing it at 1 year old.

Video Demonstration:

Here is a video demonstration by our Baby FECS

21 May 2017 (1Y6D)

8 July 2017 (1Y1M22D)

Montessori Activity: Inserting Photos into the Photo Album

Age: From 3.5 years old

Duration: 15 minutes

Objectives:

1. To train the child's fine motor skills

Materials:

1. 1 container with a few photos
2. 1 small photo album
3. 1 tray

Directions:

1. Demonstrate to your child how to put a photo into a plastic insert.

2. Invite your child to try.

Additional Information:

My friend Yang Li gave me a very good idea - to let the child share his summer vacation pictures at the kindergarten. The child could point to the pictures and talk about it with his friends and teachers. What a great way to enhance language skills.

Then I thought of making it into a Montessori Practical Life activity for the 3.5 years old. Joshua could learn to help himself to organize the photos into his own photo album.

J (3Y5M7D) tried it today 11 August 2012. It was still quite challenging for him as the plastic is very filmy. I taught him the technique of using one hand to hold the corner of the plastic and the other hand to insert it in. After some practice, he managed to do it, but he could definitely practice to improve it. He will get to practice this fine motor skills for the next round of photos :-)

Montessori Activity: Sorting Coins

Idea from a Chinese Pre-schooler workbook

Age: From 3 years old

Objectives:

1. To get the child familiarize with money.
2. To teach counting coins.
3. To inspire the child to save.

Materials:

1. 4 piggy-banks or purses for each value of coins.

2. 1 bowl containing a handful of coins with different denominations. I have got 1 kr, 2 kr, 10 kr and 20 kr on hand, and thus I use them.

3. 1 tray or mat.

Directions:

1. Demonstrate by putting the 1 kr coin into the piggy-bank meant for 1 kr.

2. Invite your child to sort the coins to the respective piggy-banks accordingly.

Additional Information:

We were doing school this evening and came across this exercise in one of J's Chinese workbooks. I thought it would be too difficult for him and turned over to the next page, but J (3Y3M2D) saw it and wanted to do it straight away. So I let him try. To my surprise, he could do everything. Thus, this exercise inspired me to make a Montessori-style activity with real coins.

I will be collecting more coins to increase my stock. Actually the Danish coins are not so suitable, as the sizes are similar and the number on the coins are very small. I will try to use the Singaporean coins instead.

I use real coins, as it does not cost anything. But if you feel that it would be too inhygienic, you can use toy money, which is available from Amazon:

  http://amzn.to/1NbvTSd

We bought our piggy banks from the Japanese store Daiso in Singapore, but you can get similar ones from Amazon:

http://amzn.to/1X063Tc

Other Resources:

http://teachmama.com/2011/07/playing-with-money-counting-wrapping-estimating-coins.html

Montessori Activity: Inserting Coins

Age: From 1.5 years old

Activity Duration: 5 minutes

Objective(s):

1. To train hand-eye coordination for toddlers
2. To inculcate the value of savings for pre-schoolers

Directions:

1. Show your child that coins belong to piggy-bank by inserting the coins into piggy bank. While doing so, tell them that piggy-bank is a tool for saving money.

2. Invite your child to try.

Additional Information:

It is a Chinese tradition to give angbaos (red packets containing money) as a gift to children. J is soon 3 years old and he is more aware of things. He was very thrilled to receive angbaos. However, he took the money out straight away and put it into his pocket, and said that he is going to go shopping to buy something with the money. I am amazed that at this age, he seems to understand the concept of spending, but I wanted him to save, not just spending money

So I decided to turn this into a "Montessori" style activity, but telling him that home of the coins he received is the piggy-bank.

This morning, J (2Y10M18D) had a great time dropping the coins into the piggybank. It is an easy task for him, considering that he is soon turning 3 years old, so I was surprised that he wanted to do it again and again. The good thing with this activity is that he stopped telling me that he wanted to spend those money, but kept dropping the money into the piggy-bank. I think it is teaching him a good habit.

Although inserting coins into piggybank is a motor-skill training more suited for 1.5 years old, they are not the cleanest objects for 1.5 year old toddlers to touch. However, since giving angbaos is a Chnese tradition, this Montessori style activity integrates very well with the angbaos tradition.

When J is older and can count, I would like to give him 5 piggy banks and teach him how to save the money for different purposes - one for spending, one for saving, one for God, one for charity and one for parents (filial piety) (see the post here).

Montessori Activity: Inserting Counters

Age: From 1.5 years old

Objective(s):
1. To train fine motor skills with regards to hand-eye coordination
2. To provide a fun way of teaching colours
3. To provide a fun way of counting
4. To teach sorting

Materials:
4 In a Line game

Directions:
1. Demonstrate to your child how to insert the counters one by one.
2. Encourage your child to try.

Cost:
10 DKK from Tiger

Additional Information:
My Significant Other told me that this is a game he enjoyed a lot, when he was a child. He was much older than J then.This game is good value for money. Although this game is for older kids, it grows with the child. For the young toddler, it can be used to train fine motor skills and teach sorting by colour. For the older toddler, it can be used to teach colours. For the preschooler, it can be used to teach counting. For the child, it is fun to play with another child to see who could have 4 in a line of the same colour.

J (2Y9M6D) tried it for the first time today and he played with it for 30 minutes, which is a long time. But he wasn't too keen to clean up by putting back the counters into the plastic bag. I had to be persistent. It was also too easy for him to insert in the counters. It would be more suited for toddlers 1.5 years old.

You can get 4-In-A-Row game from Amazon:

J sorting the counters into red and green

J having fun with Daddy

Montessori Activity: Practise Pincer Grasp with a Playdough Peacock

Idea from My Montessori Momemts

Age: From 2.5 years old

Objective: To provide a fun way to practise pincer grip and fine motor skills

Materials:
1. Some feathers (if you don't have feathers, you can use toothpicks and make a poccupine instead :-))
2. 1 lump of store-bought or homemade playdough

Directions:
1. Demonstrate to your child how to insert the feathers into the playdough to form the tail of the peacock.

2. Invite your child to try.

Additional Information:
Joshua is still not very good with his pincher grip. I have some feathers at home and I found this fun idea from My Montessori Moments. I also made my own playdough for the first time today. So I decided that I am going to let Joshua try this activity. I think it looks more like peacock than turkey, thus I am claling ours a playdough peacock.

Montessori Activity: Inserting Pipe-Cleaners

Idea from Cherry Blossom Adventures

Age:  From 1.5 year old

Activity Duration: 5 - 10 minutes

Objective(s):

1. To train fine motor skills with regard to hand and eye coordination in a fun way.

Materials:

1. 10 pipe cleaners
2. 1 draining basket or salad spinner basket
3. 1 tray

Directions:

1. Demonstrate to your child how to insert the pipe cleaners. Talk about the colours, count the pipe cleaners, etc.

2. Encourage your child to try.

Additional Information:

I didn't have the time to plan more Montessori activities and ran out of activities this morning for J. Then I remembered this very creative idea thanks to Cherry Blossom Adventures for sharing and since I have the materials, I took it out for J (2Y7M11D). This really is an activity for younger toddlers about 1.5 year old, and is too easy for J. Nevertheless it was a saver as it was fun for him and I could occupy him for a few minutes on the potty while Daddy cut his hair.

References:

http://www.cherryblossomadventures.com/2011/08/08/tot-school-jungle-zoo-animals/

Updates with Baby FECS

9 July 2017 (1Y1M23D): Baby FECS tried this for the first time today. She couldn't insert the pipe-cleaners yet, but she did try. After 30 seconds, she lost interest.

Montessori Activity: Inserting Key/Indsættelse af Nøgle/插钥匙

Age: From 2 years old

Activity Duration: 5 - 10 minutes

Objectives:

1. To train the child's motor skills.
2. To train the child's hand eye coordination.

Materials:

1. 1 lock
2. 1 key
3. 1 tray

Directions:

1. Show the child how to insert the key into the lock and turn the key to unlock the lock.

2. Encourage your child to try.

Video Demonstration by Joshua:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeG8VEpVSXc

Additional Information:

J (2Y5M12D) tried this for the first time today, and he could do it without any struggle at all. He really enjoyed it, but it was very easy for him, not much challenge. I don't think I will be repeating this anytime soon. I think this activity would be for younger toddlers from age 2.

9 November 2019 (3Y5M23D): Baby FECS tried this activity for the first time today, and she could do it, albeit, not as professional as J previously.

Montessori Acitivity: Inserting Ice-Cream Sticks

Inspired by Having Fun at Home

Age: From approx. 1.5 year old

Activity Duration: 5-10 minutes

Preparation Time: 3 minutes

Objective(s):
1. To train the child’s fine motor skills
2. To teach the concept of full and empty

Materials:
1. 10 ice-cream sticks in a container
2. 1 Piggy-bank
3. 1 tray

Directions:
1. Show your child how to insert an ice-cream stick into the piggy-bank.

2. Encourage your child try it.

Additional Information:
I have some ice-cream sticks at home and a piggy-bank. So today, I let J (2Y4M26D) tried this game. At first he was very thrilled by all the teddy bears, and started to count them. He could do it rather well, but needed to be reminded to point the stick down, instead of inserting it horizontally. Soon he got tired of inserting them one-by-one and went for the fast way by taking off the lid and pouring the ice-cream sticks into the can. He shaked it to listen to the sound.

References:
http://havingfunathomeblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/popping-posicle-sticks-into-oatmeal-can.html

Montessori Activity: Inserting Fanta Color Pegs

Age: From 2 years 3 months

Activity Duration: 5-15 minutes

Preparation Time: 3 minutes

Objective(s):

1. To train the child’s fine motor skills.
2. To train the child's hand-to-eye coordination.

Materials:

Fantacolour plastic pegs and pegboard

Directions:

1. Show your child how to create beautiful mosaics by inserting the pegs into the pegboard.

2. Encourage your child to try.

3. Show your child how to undo by turning the pegboard over and pushing the pegs directly into the case.

4. Encourage your child to try.

Total Cost: 10 DKK (2.40 SGD) from the Flea market

Additional Information:

J tried this yesterday (2Y2M25D) and today. He enjoyed it very much. I actually wanted to wait until the weekend to introduce this toy, but he discovered this new toy on the shelf yesterday morning and pointed at it. As seen in the picture, J loves orange colour and he picked all the orange pegs for this activity.

Montessori Activity: Inserting Toothpicks/Indsættelse af Tandstikker/插入牙签

Inspired by An Amazing Child

Age: From approx. 1.5 year old

Activity Duration: 5-15 minutes

Preparation Time: 3 minutes

Objective(s):
1. To train the child’s fine motor skills
2. To teach the concept of full and empty

Materials:
1. 10-30 toothpicks in a bowl (be careful not to overwhelm your child with too many toothpicks, but adjust accordingly to your child’s needs)
2. 1 toothpick container
3. 1 tray

Directions:
1. Show your child how to insert a toothpick into the hole of the toothpick container.

2. Encourage your child try it.

Tips:
1. You can also show your child to listen to the sounds of toothpicks by shaking the container.

2. You can also show your child how to open and close the hole by turning the lid.

3. Advanced level: You can also show your child how to insert the toothpick into the smaller holes of the container.

Additional Information:
This is the Montessori activity I introduced to J (2Y15D) this morning. He enjoyed it a lot and could do it very well. At first, he was very greedy, and wanted to put many toothpicks into the hole at the same time. I learned to be more modest, after I told him that it will be inefficient to do so. He also experimented with listening to the sound of the toothpicks (Montessori sensory experience) by shaking the container, opening and closing the hole by turning the lid. Once he became an expert, he moved on to the more advanced level of inserting toothpicks into the smaller holes (see more pictures). He advanced very fast, because I have introduced this activity a little late. You could start with your toddler already around 1 year 9 months with inserting the toothpicks into the large hole first. J poured back the toothpicks into the bowl after that by his own iniative.

My thanks to Daddy, who took over the morning routine, while mommy ran downstairs to laboriously type this activity down.

Updates on 27 July 2011:
I tried this activity again on 27.7.2011 (2Y4M22D) with J. He still enjoyed it very much and played for a good few minutes. He could do this easily without much struggle. Then he got bored that there were still so many toothpicks remaining to insert through the small holes. He asked to open the lid and place the toothpicks in. I left him to do so. When I returned, all the toothpicks were neatly in the container. J screwed shut the lid and place the container with toothpicks into the basket. He then placed the basket on top of the laundry basket (We usually do Montessori in the toilet - that is the place with the least distraction :-). I was impressed. Good job, J. He has grown and matured so much since we played this 4 months ago...

References:
http://www.anamazingchild.com/kates%20blog/files/7c6174a49e1287da73200f196ea92c48-11.php