Montessori Activity: Sorting Buttons

Age: From 2 years old

Objectives:

Materials:
1. 1 bowl containing 10 buttons of 4 different colours each.
2. 4 smaller clear containers or bowls.
3. 1 tray or mat.

Directions:
1. Demonstrate to your child by the buttons by colours into the smaller containers.

2. Invite your child to try.

Additional Information:
Joshua (3Y3M9D) requested to look into his Montessori book today and picked this activity. At this age, he could sort the buttons very well. In a sense, it was not challenging enough for him, but I have run out of ideas for more challenging activities. Joshua said that those buttons look like coins and requested the next Montessori activity to be on real coins and buying things. Hmmm... I would have to think about how to design such an activity.

All Done

I got this idea from below:

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: Transferring Beans by Tweezers

Age: From 3 years old

Activity Duration: 5-15 minutes

Preparation Time: 3 minutes

Objectives:

1. To refine the child’s fine motor skills with precision training.
2. To teach the concept of squeeze and release.
3. To teach sorting.
4. To teach the concept of more or less
5. To teach counting.
6. To develop the child's patience, perseverance and concentration skills

Materials:

1. 1 plate containing a handful of three different types of beans such as black beans, mung beans and soy beans

2. 3 different color containers for sorting the black beans, mung beans and soy beans

3. 1 pair of tweezers

4. 1 Tray

Directions:

1. Demonstrate by transferring the bean one-by-one from the plate into the respective container.

2. Encourage your child to try.

3. During the activity, take the opportunity to talk about the colors of the beans, the size of the beans, count the beans as they are being placed in the container, talk about which container contains the most beans.

Additional Information:

J (3Y0M27D) tried this activity for the first time this evening 1 April 2012. I wasn't sure if he was ready for such work in precision. J was attracted to the cute containers that I bought, and asked to put things inside it. I took the opportunity to try out this activity. He could do it well. It was also training his patience. It took a long time, as there were so many beans. The next time we do this activity, I should not put so many beans on the plate/cover. J did well in terms of perseverance, but he could do better. He completed all the black beans, because he wanted me to use it to make him black bean soup, which I promised him. It was a long time ago, since I made black bean soup. The last time was when he was 1.5 or 2 years old. I am touched that he could remember it and asked for it.

For precision training, use adult tweezers. Introduce this activity when your child has tried transferring bigger items and with easier equipment such as tongs. This activity is very good for training patience, perseverance and concentration skills, all of which are qualities required to get your child ready for school.

This activity would also be suitable to train and improve concentration skills in children with ADHD, because it is very structured, simple and not overwhelming and requires concentration from the child. But take it slowly and don't give up. Day-by-day, physical concentration activities would slowly develop the underdeveloped part of the brain of children with ADHD, helping it to be more and more developed. I wished wished wished I had tried this my nephew 10 years ago, sigh with sadness.

Although I am using cute containers here, it is not necessary to get fanciful containers, and don't let it prevent you from introducing this activity, if you don't have them. You can still be very effective at introducing this activity with free materials such as saving the take-away containers the next time you eat out at food courts, food containers, bowls, plates, etc. house hold items easily found at home. You can also substitute the tweezers with chopsticks, eyebrow tweezers, etc. from your home. This activity can be as cheap or as expensive as you make it out to be. However, if you are like me, who has a soft spot for cute Japanese containers, and don't know where to find them, you can get them from Amazon's links below. You can also get the adult tweezers from Amazon:

http://amzn.to/26ER0Td

Three Bear Family

Many children are attracted to teddy bears. Thus, these bears are fantastic tools for helping children to learn about colors, both naming and sorting, counting and many other Maths activities in a fun way. They are value for money, because they are suitable for a wide range of age groups and grow with the child. It is good to sit with your child and teach him what to do with the bears before you leave him with this toy. You can get them from Amazon:

Here are some fun and educational ways you can use the bears:

Fine motor skill training - pincer grasp (From 1 year old)

If your child is not ready for sorting or counting, simply letting your child play with the bears by picking up the bears, getting the bears to stand upright, is good practice for fine motor skills because of their small size.

Warning: Not for toddlers who are still mouthing.

Montessori Activity (From 1.5 year old)

When your child could pick up the bear by hand, you can increase the challenge by letting him pick up each bear with a tong.

Teach colours and sorting (From 1.5 year old)

You can talk about the colour of the bears with your child. You can place all the bears in a bowl, and ask your child to sort them by colour into each cup with the same colour.
Teach size (From 1.5 year old)

You can talk about the sizes, which one is Daddy Bear, Mommy Bear and Baby Bear.

Counting (From 2 years old)

Ask your child, for example, to get you 5 blue bears. Get him to count them, as he gets you the bear.

Talk to your child about the total number of bears (50), and that there are ten bears in each of the five colors. When cleaning up, count the bears as you put them away

For older children, when cleaning up, you can ask your child to put them into the plastic bag by colour and ask him how many there are each time each bag is completed. For example, say, "Now there are 10. Now there are 20. Now there are 30.

Props for trucks (From 2 years old)

Our Little FECS loves to use them as "cement" in his cement mixer truck.  

Language (Playing I Spy) (From 2.5 years old)

You can use them to work on your child's language skills (both expressive and receptive). For example, you can put the bears around the house and then say, "I see a bear on top of the table!" And your child has to go and find them. You can use them to work on workds like "beneath", "between", "inside", "in", "under", "near", "over", etc. Your child will have fun hunting down the bears based on your instructions all around the house.

When sorting, they work on numeracy words like "few" "many" "most" "all" "some" and "none." For example, ask your child to put a "few" in the cup, or to find "all" the bears and put them on the plate.

You can discuss the similarities and differences with the bears.

Patterning (From 3 years old)

You can make patterns with the bears together with your child.

Weighing (From 3.5 years old)

You can put the bears on a scale and weigh them. Ask your child how many baby bears equals the weight of one papa bear?

Counters to Teach Maths (From 4 years old)

You can use the bears as counters for Maths to teach addition and subtraction, multiplication and division.

Obstacle Course (For ADHD children)

According to a review in Amazon, you can make obstacle course with a loop of climbing through things, jumping over pillows, running down the hallway, etc. in which you put 10 bears in a cup at the beginning of the course and an empty cup at the end of the course to collect the bears as he takes one through each round. You can set up the cups all over the biggest room of your home and have your child running around the house to sort the bears into the appropriate cup.

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

Arranging 123s/Nummersortering/字母分类[zì mu fēn lèi]

Age: From 2.5 years old

Activity Duration: 10-15 minutes

Objective(s):
1. To train the child’s fine motor skills.
2. To teach numeral recognition in a fun way.

Materials:
1. 1 container of numeral magnets
2. 1 whyte board

Directions:
1. Arrange the numbers in a row on the whyte board from 0 - 9.

2. Introduce the number by pointing to them one-by-one or by singing the number song and pointing to them one-by-one on the whyte board.

3. Demonstrate to your child by looking for the '1's for example in the container and placing them in a line below the first '1' or asking your child to pick a number and find the place where it belongs on the whyte board.

4. Encourage your child to try to with all the other letters.

5. As your child place the number, encourage him to say the name of the number.

Cost: Alphabet magnets: 27.04 GBP (55 SGD) (I believe you can get these much cheaper in Singapore).

Additional Information:
This is a  variation of the arranging letter activity. J (2Y7M25D) tried this today and he enjoyed it. He completed arranging all the numerals in the containers, but with some help and hints from me, such as, to turn the number to face the right way.

You can also buy the letter magnets and the whiteboard from Amazon:

Montessori Activity: Sorting Animal-Shaped Pasta

Age: From 2 years old

Activity Duration: 5 -15 minutes

Objective(s):

1. To train the child’s fine motor skills
2. To teach colors

Materials:

1. 1 container containing animal-shaped pasta
2. 4-5 small bowls of same color to sort the animal-shaped pasta (1 bowl for the broken pieces)
3. 1 pincer (optional)
4. 1 tray

* It is important that the color of the 4 small bowls are the same, so as not to confuse the child that it is number sorting and not color sorting.

Directions:

1. Demonstrate to your child by sorting one set of the animal-shaped pasta - horse, cow, rabbit and duck into each of the small bowls.

2. As you go along, count or recite the name of the animal.

3. Encourage your child to try.

4. Pour back all the blocks into the big bowl and repeat the game.

Additional Information:

A sweet friend of mine, Jenny, gave J some of the animal-shaped pasta today. J came home from the daycare, and picked it immediately for Montessori this evening. I let him try by picking with the pincer at first, but he got impatient and used his hands. He (2Y7M23D) sorted the animals though, so my objective has been met :-)

Montessori Activity: Sorting Fruits & Vegetables by Colour

Age: From 1.5 year old

Activity Duration: 5 - 15 minutes

Materials:
1. Some toys fruits and vegetables of different colours - red, orange, yellow and green.
2. 1 tong or ladle
3. 4 glass jars
4. 1 tray

Directions:
1. Demonstrate by sorting a fruit or two according to colours, naming the colour of the fruit/vegetable as you go along.

2. Encourage your child to try.

Additional Information:
Perhaps the developmental window period of sorting is over now for J since he was 1.5 year old, when he loved sorting. J had long lost interest with sorting activities. But I was busy and did not have the time to prepare other Montessori activities. To my surprise, he was very happy with this activity and repeated it within a day or two, which never happened with sorting activities now. I think it was because he loves pretend play-kitchen and food!

Montessori Activity: Sorting Cutleries

Age: From 2 years old

Activity Duration: 5 - 10 minutes

Objectives:

1. To teach sorting

2. To teach cleaning up after oneself in a simple way that your child can understand

Materials:

1. 1 small tray containing toy cutleries consisting of forks, knives, tablespoons and teaspoons.

2. 4-part container (or you can use the ice-cream mold as I did, if you have them)

3. 1 large tray

Directions:

1. Demonstrate by sorting a set of the cutleries - fork, knife, tablespoon and teaspoon into each compartment.

2. Invite your child to try.

Additional Information:

J hasn't been very good at cleaning up his kitchen toys after playing. Last evening, instead of cleaning up for him, I gathered all the plastic cutleries and put it in a tray and made it into a Montessori activity by asking him to put them back in their respective places. Surprisingly, he (2Y7M12D) enjoyed this activity a lot. I asked him to sort the fork, knift, tablespoon and teaspoon back to the 4-part container (I use an ice-cream mold to store his plastic cutleries). At some point, he put the spoon in the wrong compartment and looked at me cheekily for my reaction. I pretended to show my disbelief :-) He completed it nicely this morning :-)

Montessori Activity: Sorting Hard & Soft Objects

Age: From 2.5 years old

Activity Duration: 5-15 minutes

Objective(s):

1. To teach the concept of hard and soft.

Materials:

1. 10 soft objects (e.g. cotton wool, sponge, soft ball, soft teddy bear, play dough, styrofoam, mitten, rubber brick, bath toy, pom pom, toilet paper, etc.)

2. 10 hard objects (e.g. pine cone, stone, pebble, sea-shell, marble, lego brick, pasta, hard plastic ball, wooden block, chalk, mobile phone, bottle cap, fanta-colour peg, etc.)

3. 1 large container to contain them.

4. 2 bowls

5. 1 blind fold (optional)

6. 1 tray

Directions:

1. Put on the blindfold on your child, pass him a hard object and ask, "Is this hard or soft?" "Make a guess what it is?" Talk about how he feels when touching it.

2. Remove the blindfold and let your child place it in the bowl for hard objects.

3. Put on the blindfold on your child, pass him a soft object and ask, "Is this hard or soft?" and "Make a guess what it is?" Talk about how he feels about touching it.

4. Remove the blindfold and let your child place it in the bowl for soft objects.

5. Repeat for the rest of the items, until all the items are sorted into hard and soft objects.

Additional Information:

J (2Y7M2D) played this activity together with Amy today taking turns. They enjoyed it very much.