Wednesday 27 July 2011

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Montessori Activity: Shoe-Lacing


Inspired by Hapalab

Age: From 3 years old

Activity Duration: 10-15 minutes

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Objective(s):

1. To train the child’s fine motor skills
2. To teach the child to be independent

Materials:

1. 1 pair of shoes unlaced
2. 1 pair of shoe laces
3. 1 tray

Directions:

1. Place both shoes on a tray on the child's workstation.

2. Take one shoe up and show your child how to thread the shoelace through the eyelet with one of the shoes.

3. Let your child try to do to thread the shoe lace through the eyelet with the other shoes. Guide him which eyelet to thread the shoe lace, if your child is younger than 3 years old.

Video Demonstration:

Here is a video demonstration by Hapalab:


Warning:

Supervise closely with shoe lace. Remove and store away immediately after activity.

Additional Information:

It is really no need to buy expensive Montessori dressing frames, just use any old or existing shoes with laces. This is a pair of old children's shoes from Gap, which I bought from New York 5 years ago for my nephew. But it wasn't so good a pair of shoes for children, as it was too troublesome to put them on. I didn't know better how to choose good shoes for children at that time, since I didn't have my children of my own. This pair of shoes was recycled back to me, when J was born. However, it is a truly perfect pair of shoes for Montessori lesson!!! Bright contrasting colours, not too big and not too small.

J (2Y4M22D) tried it today 27 July 2012. I guided him which eyelet to thread through. He loves to pull the shoe-laces out of the eyelet. His attention span was very short though, and got bored of it in a few minutes. His attention span is still something that I am trying to work on and praying over. I am wondering whether I am expecting too much. What about your toddler of 2.5 years old? Are they good in paying attention?

References:

http://hapalab.blogspot.com/2011/04/old-shoe.html

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for referencing my blog post! Love the cute shoes and your cute boy:) They don't get bored as much when they understand the goal of the exercise, so it's pretty normal for him to move on at 2.5 yrs. As far as attention span, it can certainly be "trained" in some ways.
    Montessori methods have alot of inherent "Visual Cues" for focus.
    1) Always show a new tool in the SAME location.
    I only do Montessori presentations in our home classroom table or floor, no where else. So when I show something, Z knows to turn on his focus.
    2) Minimize colors in the environment and use natural materials, again Visual Cues to focus.
    Montessori stresses natural elements & colors (wood, glass, metal, rocks, grasses...) so the child's experience can be with REAL things. Nowadays, children's things are designed HYPER-colored with intent to stimulate attention. Problem is, when EVERYTHING is brightly colored, the kid may not actually know where to focus. I find in keeping the classroom more "muted", Z can see his tools and work much easier than in a visually busy space. Less color = better focus. Wood trays so he can see his colored beads for example. A natural jute rug so he can see his colored pom-pom exercise. The less patterns the better.
    A visual:
    http://hapalab.blogspot.com/p/work-place.html
    And Philosophy:
    http://hapalab.blogspot.com/search/label/Montessori
    Good luck and have fun!

    ReplyDelete

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