Montessori Activity: Blowing Feathers with Straws

Age: From 3 years old

Objective(s): To teach the concept of how wind works in a simple, fun and tangible way
 for young children.

Materials:
1. 2 feathers
2. 2 straws
3. 1 tub filled with water

Directions:
1. Put the feathers on the tub of water.

2. Have fun with your child by blowing the feathers with a straw and see whose feather is going faster.

Additional Information:
Joshua tried this today. He preferred to use the straw to blow bubbles in the water instead towards the end of the activity.

If you don't have feathers at home, you can substitute it with paper boat, or bath toy boat. You can get feathers from Amazon:

Montessori Activity: Cutting Straws with Scissors/Skæring med Saks/使用剪刀 [shǐ yòng jiǎn dāo]

Age: 2 years 3 months

Activity Duration: 5-15 minutes

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

Materials:

1. 1 pair of scissors for kids
2. 4 straws
3. 1 basket (optional)

Directions:

1. Demonstrate to your child by cutting the straws with the scissors slowly one by one.

2. Then assist your child to hold the scissors with thumb and fingers in the handle himself and have him practice opening and closing the scissors.

3. As your child opens and closes the scissors, hold the straw in between the scissors while he cuts it.

Tips:

1. What to do with those bits of cut straws? Save them in a bucket and when you have a lot, they will be a good base for sensory boxes.

Additional Information:

J is starting to get bored with cutting papers with scissors, although his scissors skills can still be improved. Thus, I have replaced the papers with straws, so as to bring back some some novelty to this "old" activity.