Montessori Activity: Transferring Rye Grains

Age: From 3 years old

Activity Duration: 5-15 minutes

Preparation Time: 3 minutes

Objective(s):

1. To train the child’s fine motor skills - also pincer grip when picking up spilled rice.
2. To teach the concept of empty and full.

Materials:

1. 1 cup filled with rye grains
2 canister jar
3. 1 spoon
4. 1 Tray

Directions:

1. Demonstrate to your child by pouring rice from the cup on right hand side into the cup on the left hand side.

2. Encourage and let your child try it.

Additional Information:

J (2Y1M5D) tried this activity this morning 10 April 2012, while I was busy preparing his breakfast, but it lasted only 5 minutes, before he started declaring "Mommy, I have finished". And it was not as if he has perfected scooping - there were rye grains spilled on the tray (although he could pour his own milk every morning well without spilling). I would have like him to last longer now at the age of 4. While putting back the tray, he spilled all the grains! That means cleaning!!! Fortunately, the thought of it as another opportunity for practical life activity took away my dread of having to bring the vaccuum cleaner out. I took out the vaccuum cleaner and J and I enjoyed the cleaning up. In fact, he enjoyed using the vaccuum cleaner more than transferring the rye grains.

Boy, it was 2 years ago since I first put out the pouring tray. It brought back fond memories. It has been quite some time since I did practical life activities with J, as I was busy compiling Maths lesson plan and doing them with J. Yesterday, I tried this with more interesting items so that it is not an "old" activity.

I am kinda paranoid. When I am doing academic activities with J such as Maths, writing, etc. I worry that I am too academic-focused, and not giving him a good grounding in practical life skills (one which I did not have growing up in academic-focused Singapore).

When I focus on practical life skills, I worry about not being rigorous enough with the academic pursuit to give him a good head start. Arrrhhhhh.... I am a very insecure mom, be it with child's education or parenting.

A friend of mine told me that perhaps it is too young to start writing practice with J. Sometimes, he is not holding his pencil perfectly correct. At times, he is leaning his head a little too down when writing. It is important to have correct pencil holding when a child is young, my friend told me, which I agree. And posture is very important too. J is leaning towards the worksheet too much, my friend told me.

In times like this, it is comforting to run to Daddy for a second opinion, who is usually more objective and less of a worrier than Mommy. So I asked him every now and then, "Am I pressuring J too much? Am I killing his joy for learning? Am I doing the right thing with these activities to train his concentration and ability to complete a task? etc. etc." Daddy assured me that J seems to be loving his homework, and willing to do it, and that I am not pressuring J at all with the academic work that I am doing. Of course, I tend to see the places he needs to improve - for example, I think he should be more focused and last longer in an activity. Of course, he is still quite a typical boy, compared to girls his age, Daddy reminded me. And I trust Daddy's judgment more than anyone else.

Anyway, I am bringing back practical life activities, and going at a more relaxed pace with the academic (if I can help it)... I don't want to take away J's childhood at such a young age.

Montessori Activity: Re-Filling Snack Jar

Age: From 2.5 years old

Activity Duration: 5-15 minutes

Objective(s):

1. To train the child’s fine motor skills.
2. To teach listening to the sound of pouring beans.

Materials:

1. 1 canister containing snack
2. 1 jam jar with lid
3. 1 teaspoon
4. 1 tray

Directions:

1. Demonstrate to your toddler by scooping the goji berries from the canister into the jar.
2. Encourage and let your child try it.
3. Demonstrate to your child by pouring the beans from the jug back to the bowl.
4. Encourage and let your child try it.

Additional Information:

I started letting J prepare his own breakfast topping or snack some time ago (not everyday, but whenever we have time in the morning during the weekends). The goji berry jar was empty and he requested to re-fill it himself. I allowed him and turned it into a Montessori type activity. He re-filled the whole goji berry jar from the stock in the canister which I took down from the food stuff shelves the and screwed it tight himself. He is really becoming such a great mommy's help. So today, he graduated from preparing his own snack to re-filling his own snack bar.

Montessori Activity: Scooping Rice/Øse Ris/舀大米

Age: From 2 years old

Activity Duration: 5-15 minutes

Preparation Time: 3 minutes

Objective(s):  To train the child’s fine motor skills.

Materials:

1. 2 pots or containers
2. 1 spoon
3. A cup of rice
4. 1 tray

Directions:

1. Demonstrate to your toddler by scooping the pasta from one pot to another.
2. Encourage and let your child try it.

Video Demonstration:

Additional Information:

J (2Y6M9D) tried this on today and he could scoop the rice, but sometimes he spilled it. Towards the end, he got impatient with the slow pace of scooping the rice and decided to pour the whole pot of rice into the other pot instead.

Montessori Activity: Scooping Pasta

Age: From 2 years old

Activity Duration: 5-15 minutes

Preparation Time: 3 minutes

Objective(s):

1. To train the child’s fine motor skills.

Materials:

1. 2 pots or containers
2. 1 ladle
3. A handful of pasta
4. 1 tray

Directions:

1. Demonstrate to your toddler by scoping the pasta from one pot to another.
2. Encourage and let your child try it.

Additional Information:

J (2Y5M22D) tried this today for 15 minutes and he enjoyed it.

Montessori Activity: Scooping Ice-Cubes

Age: From 2 years old

Activity Duration: 5-15 minutes

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Objectives:

1. To train the child’s fine motor skills.
2. To stimulate the child's sense of touch.
3. To teach the concept cold.

Materials:

1. 2 bowls
2. Approx. 10 - 12 ice-cubes
3. 1 scoop (I use the Chinese steam boat ladle)
4. 1 Tray

Directions:

1. Demonstrate it to your child by transferring the ice-cubes slowly one at a time.
2. Encourage and let your child try it.

Additional Information:

J (2Y3M6D) tried this for the first time this morning. I wished I have let him play with ice-cubes when he was a baby, but better late than never.

Montessori Activity: Scooping Stones & Beans with Gardening Spade

Age: From 2 years old

Activity Duration: 5-15 minutes

Preparation Time: 3 minutes

Objective(s): To train the child’s fine motor skills.

Materials:

1. 1 medium bowl
2. 1 pot
3. 1 gardening spade
4. 1 tray (optional)

Directions:

1. Demonstrate to your toddler by spooning the stones and beans from the bowl to the pot.
2. Encourage and let your child try it.
3. Demonstrate to your child by pouring the beans from the jug back to the pot.
4. Encourage and let your child try it.

Cost:

Kid's size gardening set 49 DKK (11.55 SGD) from Netto

Additional Information:

J (2Y2M9D) discovered the new gardening set that I bought and requested to play with it today. I started him off with Montessori activity, and later he can use it to play with the sand box. He enjoyed this Montessori activity this morning.

Montessori Activity: Scooping ABCs

Age: From 2 years 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 phonetics of letters.

Materials:

1. 2 identical medium bowls (I use the free plastic takeaway containers)
2. 4-5 fridge letter magnets into one bowl (not too many, keep it simple)
3. 1 deep spoon
4. 1 tray

Directions:

1. Demonstrate to your toddler by scooping an letter from the bowl and while doing so, repeat the sound of that letter.

2. Repeat with the other letters.

3. Encourage and let your child try it.

4. Once your child master the first 4-5 letters, move on to the next set of letters.

Tips:

You can also sing the alphabet song as you do this activity.

Benefit(s):

1. A very good way to train your child’s fine motor skills.
2. A fun way to learn the alphabet.
3. Kill two birds with one stone, especially for the working mom, by combining Practical Life lesson with Language.

Total Cost:

Alphabet magnets : 27 DKK for (4.99 USD or 6.40 SGD)

Additional Information:

This is my own idea, and I can’t wait to test it on J! The results: J (24M9D) had difficulty scooping each of the letters from one bowl to another. So I simplify this activity by asking him to pick the right letter by hand instead. He has difficult picking the right letter. Thus, this will be my signal to put this activity away and let some time go by before re-introducing it.

Montessori Activity: Scooping & Pouring Beans/Hælde Bønner/舀豆豆, 倒豆豆[yǎo dòu dòu, dào dòu dòu]

Age: From 2 years old

Activity Duration: 5-15 minutes

Preparation Time: 3 minutes

Objective(s):

1. To train the child’s fine motor skills.
2. To teach listening to the sound of pouring beans.

Materials:

1. 1 medium bowl
2. 1 jug
3. 1 deep spoon
4. 1 tray (optional)

Directions:

1. Demonstrate to your toddler by scooping the beans from the bowl to the jug.

2. Encourage and let your child try it.

3. Demonstrate to your child by pouring the beans from the jug back to the bowl.

4. Encourage and let your child try it.

Additional Information:

J (2Y0M7D) wanted to do more Montessori activity today. During Room Time, he found this exercise I have prepared and put aside and couldn't wait to start. As a result, I didn't manage to do Room Time this morning. I tried to combine Room Time with this activity and the results was spilled beans all over when I returned, because he tried to pour beans from the bowl into the jug, instead of scooping them!!! Also, Joshua stepped out of the room and asked for more black beans twice. He wasn't happy with the amount of beans he had in the bowl. I poured some more black beans from my jar of supply for him twice, and put my feet down for the third time.

In the picture on the top right, J was pointing to his ears, asking me to listen to the sound of pouring beans. This is actually another Montessori game called the silence game. I have not started this game with him yet, but it seems that he is teaching me this game without knowing :-)

Montessori Activity: Transferring with Scoop/Øse Kugler/舀弹子 [yǎo dàn zǐ]

Materials

Age: Generally from 2 years old (but all children are different, and you can try out some of the activities for younger or older children).

Activity Duration: 5-15 minutes

Preparation Time: 3 minutes

Objectives:

1. To train the child’s fine motor skills
2. To teach focus and concentration skills.

Materials:

1. 2 bowls (preferably of equal size and colour)
2. Approx. 10 marbles (keep it simple, not too many)
3. 1 scoop (I use the mini wooden salt scoop here, but you can use a deep spoon)
4. 1 Tray (optional, I didn't use it here)

Directions:

1. Demonstrate it to your child by transferring the marble slowly one at a time.
2. Encourage and let your child try it.

Special Warning:

1. Supervise closely with marbles and don’t start with a toddler who is still mouthing. Remove and store away immediately after activity.

Cost:

Total Cost: 12 DKK (2.90 SGD)
Marbles: 7 DKK (1.70 SGD)
Mini Wooden Salt Scoop: 5 DKK (1.20 SGD)
Bowls: Free as you can use any bowls at home

Additional Information:

J turned 2 years old last Saturday, and after I have settled his nutrition, got into a good routine after getting back to work, got settled in the day care, got him settled in the music class, I have now surplus energy to set another goal. This year 2011 and J’s year 3, my goal is to start Montessori activities, focusing on the Montessori’s Practical Life. I am glad that after two years, Florian is getting more and more supportive of the engrossment I am devoting to child development, and he is participating more and more and in the process enjoying it :-)

I tried this activity with J (2Y0M4D) for the first time during bed time by demonstrating to him this evening. At first, he took the easy way out by pouring the whole bowl of marbles into the other bowl. Then he used his fingers to transfer the marble to the other bowl one by one… arrrgggh. Finally, he used the scoop successfully repeatedly – hurray!!! Towards the end, he got tired, and used his fingers to transfer the marbles again. Then I ended the game. It was very fun, and I was glad that J enjoyed it, as if not, he would have moved on to something else.

I read about this activity from other blogs and am so excited to try it! I bought the marbles from BR Toys for 30 DKK for a pack of 30. You can also get a pack of 10 for 6.60 DKK from Søsterne Grene, but each ball is multi colour and not distinguishable. I intend to use the marbles to teach colours, thus, I prefer the ones from BR Toys. The scoop cost approx. 5 DKK from Søstrene Grene too. I bought the teak-wooden bowls from Søstrene Grene for 20 DKK each, because I was vain and like to have the neutral colours, but you don’t have to do that. Any bowls will do.

References:
http://mymontessorimoments.wordpress.com/2010/08/25/developing-practical-life-skills/

6 November 2019 (3Y5M20D): We tried this for the first time today. She enjoyed it very much. She could do it very well, but at the same time still find it enjoyable to do. At some point, she did try to pour the whole bowl into the other bowl, like what J did. With this, today started the formal Montessori activity with C that will continue through and become a more regular part of our regular evening routine. It is thus the start of a more regular school time. The only thing is that it is hard to put her to bed early. We usually start this activity at 7 pm, and try to finish by 7.30 pm. However, school time can continue on to 8 pm, if she wishes to continue to do more. It becomes a dilemma for me - should she sleep or should she continue school time. I really try to limit to 7.30 pm, but we do often continued until 8 pm. We normally do all the Montessori activities in Mandarin. Apart from reading English books, school time has been conducted in Mandarin.