Montessori Activity: Self-Service Entrance Station for Toddlers



Our entrance with low hooks for Joshua for hanging jackets and bags

Close up: The floor space below the hooks are designated to place the shoes in a line, when entering the entrance

 

We designated to lowest shoes shelves for Joshua's shoes

Age: From 2 years old

Objective(s):
1. To help the child to develop independence skills and self-confidence.
2. To help the child to develop the good habit of doing things himself.

Items:
1. Low hooks for hanging jackets and bags
2. Low shelf or designated space on the floor for shoes

Additional Information:
Joshua has been trained from day 1 that he has to take of his shoes, before entering the home from the entrance. When he is younger, I used to take off his shoes, but two weeks ago, we began to encourage Joshua (2Y4M) to take off his sandals himself and line it neatly on the floor. Since then, he has been doing this by himself now.

When arriving home, it is our house rule that we first take off our jackets and shoes here. This is different from Danish tradition, where Danes wear their shoes into the home - not home shoes but outdoor shoes. When I first arrived Denmark and visited Florian, I had a rude shock - he wears his out-door shoes at home. So what is the point of cleaning, when the floor, which covers the biggest area at home is always dirty? This is a Danish tradition that I do not understand and I am NOT going to pass down to Joshua. When it comes to shoes, we are following strictly the Asian tradition of no shoes in door. Interestingly, next door neighbour country Sweden does not have such a tradition, and more and more younger generation of Danes are also adopting the policy of no out-door shoes at home. But it can sometimes become a point of tension, when we have Danish guests, to request them to take off their shoes, but we are sticking to our guns. I am a neat and clean freak, and I am just totally distraught when people wear shoes into our home. Similarly, when we visit other Danes, we become the weird guests, as we are the only one that take off our shoes, although the host do not require us to do that.

What about you? How is it like in your country? Do you wear out-door shoes at home too? I know when in Rome, you are supposed to do as the Romans. When it comes to acquiring cross-cultural skills gracefully, this is one of those that I fail terribly. I hope God and the Danes will forgive me.

Montessori Activity: Self-Service Closet Station for Toddlers




Low bar for hanging shirts and baskets or storage boxes on the floor to put clothes for re-use



Low drawers for folded clothes and label them clearly

Laundry baskets for whites, light coloured clothes and dark coloured clothes

Age: From 2 years old

Objective(s):
1. To help the child to develop independence skills and self-confidence.
2. To help the child to develop the good habit of doing things himself.

Items:
1. 1 Low bar for hanging shirts
2. 5 low drawers for folded clothes as follows from top to bottom: T-shirts, Sweaters, pants, pyjamas & underwear, and socks & accessories and label them.
3. 2 baskets or transparent boxes for clothes to be re-used on the floor: one for tops and one for bottoms
4. 3 laundry baskets for clothes for washing on the floor in the bathroom: one for whites, one for light coloured clothes and one for dark coloured clothes.
5. Kid-size hangers

Tips:
Ever feel overwhelmed with organizing and sorting those clothes that your child out-grown? I think I have finally found a method that helps me to manage it efficiently and in a least amount of time. First, prepare in advance transparent storage boxes for storing the clothes that your child is soon going to out-grow and label the sizes clearly. For me, I place the transparent storage boxes on the shelf above the hanging bar. Whenever, I notice that Joshua’s clothes are getting too small for him, I will fold it and put it into the respective storage boxes, after they have been washed and is dry. Once the last clothes of that size is out-grown, I simply close the lid of that box and move it to the storage room.




The storage boxes above the hanging bar are for clothes that Joshua is soon going to out-grow

Additional Information:
I used to crack my brain on how I could store things as high up as possible, so that Joshua could not reach it, but did not have the time to design such a high lofty place. Thank God, I didn't have the time! After reading the book "How to Raise Brighter Kids*" and since I started Montessori, I went on an about turn. The Montessori concept advocates the reverse. Now I began to crack my brain on how to design a system as low as possible for Joshua. Montessori is about allowing your child to do things themselves. When designing a dressing closet station for toddlers, think LOW and HORIZONTAL as much as possible – low bar, low shelves, baskets on the floor – all on floor to at child’s eye level. Save the middle shelves for me (er… I am short) and the higher shelves for Florian (he is tall).

Although it takes effort to label the drawers, but I find that it saves time in the long run as it gives an easy and quick overview to the content of the drawers. Since Florian also puts in Joshua's clothes, the label really helps to keep it neat and reduce the mistakes of putting the clothes in the wrong drawer, making it less confusing for Joshua, when he opens the drawers.

As Denmark is a cold country, we find many of the clothes are still very clean after one or two use. Thus, it is helpful for us to have a basket or storage boxes to put the clothes for re-use. We put them on the floor so that Joshua can access it easily and pick out what he wishes to wear.

The laundry baskets are useful for Montessori sorting exercises. Your child can learn to put the right colour clothes into the right baskets, instead of piling them up.

* This book talked about the importance of designing your home at kid's friendly height, but does not tell you how to. I got inspired from other mommy bloggers, but some of the ideas are my own.

References:
http://hapalab.blogspot.com/2011/01/lab-work-zos-closet.html

Montessori Activity: Self-Service Work Station for Toddlers

Objective(s):

1. To help the child to develop independence skills and self-confidence.
2. To help the child to develop the good habit of doing things himself.

Items:

1. Kid-size table
2. Kid-size chair(s)
3. Low shelf or basket of books within reach
4. A container with coloured pencils or crayons
5. Paper supplies

Additional Information:

This is basically a kid’s size table and chair. It gives your toddler a place to call his own and at the same time saves yourself from backaches by always having to carry your child up on the high chair or adult chair. I consider this a must have. For now, the aim is for the child to go to the desk and help himself to the paper and the crayon and draw. I believe it will give the child a good habit of sitting on a writing desk, and motivate him to go to his work desk to do his homework, when he is older and starts formal schooling. Notice that I also place books on a nearby shelf that is easily within his reach from his table.

Montessori Activity: Self-Service Pantry Station for Toddlers

Joshua's Pantry & Snack Bar Self-Service Station

Age: From 2.5 years old

Objective(s):
1. To help the child to develop independence skills and self-confidence.
2. To help the child to develop the good habit of doing things himself.

Items:
1. Big plates (for daddy & mommy)
2. Small plastic plates
3. Big bowls
4. Small rice bowls
5. Container containing forks, spoons and knives (for daddy & mommy)
6. Container containing kid-size forks, spoons and knives
7. Cups
8. Disposable placemats

Additional Information:
I set this up today, and Joshua was very proud and started using it straight away after coming home from daycare by pouring himself a cup of water, setting the table, opening the jars of snacks, and tearing a piece of the toilet roll for wiping.

Joshua is entering a sensitive period (from around 3 - 6 years old), whereby he wants to copy and mimic adults' work. I think it is a good time to set up Self-Service Station for him now.

Montessori Activity: Self-Service Snack Bar for Toddlers

Age: From 2.5 years old

Items:
1. A few recycled jars or containers filled with raisins, dried crane berries, nuts, biscuits and seaweeds
2. Small basket containing fruits such as apple, pear, orange, banana, etc.
3. 1 Jug with drinking water
4. 1 cup
5. 1 towel for wiping hands or toilet roll
6. Bibs

Additional Information:
There are two schools of thoughts – the first school of thought believes that having the snack within reach will encourage the toddler to eat non-stop, while the other school of thought believes that having the snack within easy reach would make snack loses its novelty appeal, and stop the child from always wanting to eat snack. I am testing this out by putting the self-service snack bar within reach and see which school of thought Joshua would be leaning towards.

Notice that I use toilet roll in place of kitchen roll. I know it is not so elegant, but it is very practical and has the following benefits:

1. It is in a kid-friendly size and much easier for a child to handle than a kitchen roll.

2. It gives practice to the child how to tear a piece of toilet paper nicely. In fact, Joshua can tear a piece out nicely almost all the time now.

3. It is much cheaper than kitchen roll- during training, there will be inevitable wastage, and your child is going to use a lot of this, thus why not save money, after all it is made of the same material.

I will revert to the nicer and more proper paper napkins when he is older :-)

Montessori Activity: Self-Service Drinking Water Station for Toddlers

Adapted from Hapalab

Age: From 2.5 years old

Objective(s):

1. To teach independence skills
2. To train eye-hand coordination skills with pouring

Items:

1. 1 water jug filled with drinking water
2. 1 cup
3. 1 small towel for wiping
4. 1 tray

Additional Information:

J drinks only water and he has developed this habit of drinking lots of water during bedtime (ya, right, wish me well when I have to start night diaper-free training!!). I have been getting him cups and cups of water all the time. Today, I thought why not let him pour himself a cup of water to drink? J started Montessori Practical Life pouring lessons when he was two years old, so I think he is ready to have a self-service drinking station now. Time to stop serving the little Emperor :-).

I found a spot in a corner of his bedroom and place this self-service drinking water station on low bedside table, so it is kid's size and very kid's friendly :-) J (2Y4M1D) poured himself the first cup of water this evening. He is good at pouring, but not so good at stopping. I had to stop him from overflowing the water. Ya, I know I should have just let him learn from his mistake, and interupt less. Afterall, I have provided him the wiping towel.

So from this evening onwards, there will be less work for me (hmmm... maybe not yet, I would still probably have to help him with the wiping off the water), and more fun for him, hurray! It sure does get easier, as he grows older and can do more and more things on his own :-)

I intend to introduce another self-service water station in his playroom or near our kitchen soon.

References:

http://hapalab.blogspot.com/2011/02/agua.html

Montessori Activity: Sorting Colored Ice-Cubes/彩虹冰块分类

Age: From 1 year 9 months old

Activity Duration: 10 minutes

Objective(s):

1. To train the child’s fine motor skills
2. To teach colours
3. To stimulate the child's sense of touch with ice.

Materials:

1. 1 big bowl of 3 different colour ice-cubes (green, red and blue) made of food coloring
2. 3 small rice bowls
3. 1 tray

Warning:

The color stains, thus cover your child's clothes and the table. Also use bowls which are not easily staining.

Directions:
1. Demonstrate to your child by sorting one set of the 3 colors into each of the small bowls.

2. As you go along, recite the name of the color.

3. Encourage your child to try to sort the other sets of the colors into the correct bowl allocated for that particular color.

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

Additional Information:

Joshua tried it on 24.7.2011 (2Y4M19D). He could do it, but he wasn't so thrilled about sorting ice-cubes. I think it is no longer challenging for him and he is too old for this game. I would try this game on younger toddlers.

J Summary (2Y3M30D) - Can Say 1-10 in Mandarin Chinese, Danish and almost English

Every evening during bedtime, J loves to practice saying 1-10 in Mandarin. J would always miss out the number 4. We would take turn to count 1-10. When he finishes his, I would praise him saying "慨恩聪明" meaning "J is clever" . He would say to me, "轮到妈妈了" meaning "it is mommy's turn now". When I finish counting, he would praise me back saying, "妈妈聪明" meaning "mommy is clever". We would both laugh at how he is copying me, even using the same words I use for praising me on me.

Today, he counted 1-10 in Mandarin Chinese completely without missing out the number 4. It was the first time I heard it all correct.

He took a step further by taking the iniative to count 1-10 in Danish after doing it in Mandarin Chinese. For the fist time I heard him counting in Danish without missing a single digit as well. Pleasantly surprised, I asked him to count 1-10 in English. He could do it, if we do it together. Then he got his Danish and English all jumbled up. It was funny to see his progress and regress :-)

J's love for learning makes me glad, whether he gets his English right or not.

Saying Please, Thank You and Grace

Today, we walked to get J's passport renewed. All the way there, he would ask for a biscuit. I would ask for the magic word. He would say "Please", and then "thank you". Today, he did something very sweet. He would say "要祷告" meaning must pray. Then he would fold his hands and quiet silence for a second, and then he said "Amen, Amen". This repeated itself for almost each of the biscuit in the bag. Towards the end of our walk, the packet was almost empty. So he had practiced saying a lot of "please", "thank you" and "Amen" :-)

Montessori Activity: Toddler's Cleaning Kit

Inspired by Hapa Lab

Age: From 2 years old

Activity Duration: 5-10 minutes

Materials:

1. 1 container with a small rug or sponge

2. 1 small spray bottle filled with water

3. 1 tray
4. 1 kid's size table or chalkboard for wiping

Directions:

1. Show your child by spraying water on the tray.
2. Wipe it clean and dry with the rag.
3. Encourage your child to try.

Cost:

Mini-size spray: 10 DKK (2.40 SGD) I bought this min-size spray from the Chinese store Chao Chao at Lyngby train station, but you can also get it from Jysk Sengetøj, or simply re-use a spray bottle from the one you bought from the supermarket. Then it would not cost a thing.

Additional Information:

I think the cleaning kit can be a little bit to daunting for someone new to the lesson of cleaning. This is a much simpler kit, breaking down the lesson of cleaning into two parts - wiping and sweeping. In this lesson, the focus is only on wiping. Thus, you basically only need 3 things - rage, spray and water.

For younger toddlers from less than 2 years old, you can even simply it further with introducing just one thing - a wet rug.

4.7.2011 (2Y4M30D) - Joshua wiping the chalkboard

Thai Clear Vermicelli Soup with Meat Balls

Recipe adpated from my Thai friend Lan

Serves 4

Preparation & Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
- 400g minced pork
- 125g oyster mushrooms (optional)
- 1 cup glass vermicelli, soaked and shortened
- 4-5 stalks of coriander
- 2 cloves garlic
- Peppter
- 2 carrots cut into slices
- 4-5 leaves of Chinese cabbage, sliced
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp Thai fish sauce
- 2 TBS soy sauce
- 3 spring onions chopped
- 1 TBS crispy fried garlic (optional)

Directions:
1. Grind coriander and garlic in a baby blender.

2. In a mixing bowl, add minced pork, glass vermicelli, ground coriander and garlic, fish sauce, salt and pepper and mix well, then make into round balls.

3. Bring the water or stock to a boil.

4. Add carrots and port until cooked. Then add Chinese cabbage, soy sauce, salt and add spring onions, remove from heat and sprinkle with crisp-fried garlic and serve :-)

Quick & Easy Toddler Rice Noodles

Preparation & Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
- 100g dried rice noodles
- 2 frozen homemade french bean baby cubes
- 2 tsp Chinese sesame oil
- 1 tsp Chinese oyster sauce
- 500ml water

Directions:
1. In a pot, boil water for cooking the noodles.
2. Meanwhile, thaw the french bean baby cubes in microwave.
3. When water boils, add noodles and boil for 2 minutes until cooked. Drain and set aside.
4. In a bowl, mix the sesame oil, oyster sauce and french bean baby cubes and noodles together and serve.

Additional Information:
Joshua doesn't like to eat green vegetables, thus I use the puree french bean baby cubes as dressing. In this way, I hide the vegetables. Joshua ate this for dinner today, and he asked for second helping. I think it is the oyster sauce that helped.

The picture does not look so appetizing because I over-cooked the noodles.

Chinese Potato Soup/Kinesisksuppe med Kartofler/土豆汤

My mum, May Loh's recipe

Serves 4

Preparation & Cooking Time: 30 minutes to 1 hour (depending on if you use pressure cooker or ordinary pot)

Ingredients:
° 2-3 large potatoes cut into chunks
° 2 carrots cut into chunks
° 3 large tomatoes or 5 cherry tomatoes chopped into 2 or 4
° 2 onions chopped
° 650g pork spare ribs (2 slabs)
° 2-3 litre water or vegetable stock
° 5-8 oyster mushrooms cut into slices (østershatte/牡蛎蘑菇) (Optional)
° ½ cup dried soy beans (Optional)
° A sprinkle of chives chopped (purløg/韭菜) (Optional)
° Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Bring water and soy beans to boil on high.

2. Add potatoes, onions, carrots, oyster mushrooms and pork ribs.

3. Cover lid and once pressure cooker reaches pressure according to your cooker, let it cook for 15 minutes. If you are using ordinary port, let it simmer on low heat (no. 2.5 – 3 on my stove) for 1 hour, keeping it boiling gently.

4. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

5. Garnish with chives and serve

Tips:
1. Sprinkle goji berries on top (Joshua loves it this way).

Nutritional Value:
Potatoes are a good source of complex carbohydrates, vitamin C, vitamin B6 (which supports the formation of almost all the new cells in your baby's body) and potassium. They also contain fibre, iron, folates, riboflavin, thiamin, niacin, zinc and magnesium.

The carbohydrates in potatoes contain something called 'resistant starch' - so named because it resists being digested on its way to the large intestine! Once there, it acts like fibre, in that it lowers cholesterol and helps guard against colon cancer.

-----------------------------
Additional Information:
This is a very simple and easy dish to cook, and such a classic dish during my childhood. It brought back lots of cozy, and... at times, painful memories. My mum and my granny (dad's side) used to cook this soup. My aunties loved this soup that my granny made. My granny had a very very hard life supporting the family of many kids (I even lost count of the number of kids she had), since my grandfather passed away very early. My dad started working as a teenager to help support the family. Finally, when my last uncle L graduated from university, and could give her some good life from a good job, she got terminal cancer and passed away when she was 60 years old. We did not know for sure, whether she accepted Christ, before she passed away, but I believe she did. My granny is a very kind lady. I think perhaps, my uncle L asked God why this happened, and I also asked God why. I think at some point my Uncle L backslided away from God, because of this. But God's ways are higher than our ways, and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Someday, I look forward to seeing my granny in heaven, and ask God if He could tell me why. No matter what, I know that God is good and loving and He knows best. I am glad I am able to share it with my blog after all these years.

I cooked this last week for Joshua, and he loved it. I looked forward to tell Joshua the history behind this dish, when he grows up.

Montessori Activity: Making Coloured Ice-Cubes

Age: From 2.5 years old

Activity Duration: 15 minutes

Objective(s):

1. To teach the concept of colour mixing and names of colours
2. To teach the use of dropper and the concept of squeezing and releasing to make it work.
3. To teach the concept of temperature with the use of ice

Materials:

1. 3 small bowls
2. 1 jug of water
3. 3 droppers, one for each colour
4. 3 food colouring - I chose blue, green and red
5. 1 ice-cube tray with lids
6. 3 teaspoons
7. Kitchen towel for drying and cleaning
8. 1 tray (optional)

Directions:

1. Show your child by dipping the dropper into the red food colouring and dropping it into the bowl.

2. Fill the bowl with water and stir with a teaspoon to mix well.

3. Invite your child to do the same for mixing the blue and red coloured water.

4. Use the dropper to transfer the red coloured water into the ice-cubes tray.

5. Invite your child to do the same and for the other two coloured water.

6. Put into the freezer and freeze into ice

Additional Information:

I have wanted to make coloured ice-cubes for sometime, but could not find the time to do so. J likes to play with water, and he is getting a little bored today with all the other activities. So I decided to make it into an activity and do it with J.

I tried to resist myself from helping him with the use of dropper. He struggled with it a lot in the beginning and got it right for half of the time. He enjoyed this activity, but got very tired towards the end at using the water. I completed the blue and green coloured water for the ice-cubes.

So now it is in the freezer waiting to be frozen into ice for the next activity, which i hope to write a post about it. So, stay tuned :-)

Montessori Activity: Preschooler's Cleaning Kit

Inspired by Hapa Lab

Age: From 2.5 years old

Activity Duration: 10 minutes

Materials:

1. 1 kid-size bucket
2. 1 handheld dust pan and brush or broom
3. 1-2 spray bottle(s) (to share with visitor) containing water or disinfection solution
4. 1 sponge
5. 1 rag

Additional Information:

I saw this 2.5 year old boy Zo doing a fabulous job cleaning, and got inspired. I have now set up the cleaning kit for J, and it would be interesting to see, if J would be keen to start to do some real cleaning.

After the making colored ice-cubes on 2.7.2011 taught J (2Y3M27D) to clean up and wipe his table using the cleaning kit I set up for him. It was a challenge for him to be able to use the spray, as his fingers could not reach the knob, but he enjoyed it.

J Summary (2Y3M26D) - Who is the Child?

What an Angel J is... Sometimes

I haven't been to my favourite stores - Tiger and Søstrene Grene for a long time. So after picking up J from daycare today, I went to the stores. I was holding up different toys, and got tempted to buy them. Each time, J (2Y3M26D) said to me in Mandarin, "Mommy, no need to buy, we have them at home already". Oh what a sweet angelic child, helping mommy to save money. And what did mommy do? She went ahead to buy the toys anyway. Hmmm.... who's the child? J or Mommy.

Because I have been out shopping, I have not been able to make dinner this evening, oops. Well, some days are like that - does not work like clockwork.

Language Development

J could count very well in Mandarin Chinese from 1 to 10, however, he would miss out the number 4. Might as well, as the number 4 is considered to be "unlucky" in Chinese, although I have never told him that.

J is progressing very well in his Mandarin Chinese, at least seen in the eyes of my friends. Every turn I make, all the mommies of mixed-Danish Chinese children around me are confiding in me on how their children are speaking only Danish and refusing to speak Mandarin Chinese, from those who are younger than J to those who are older.

J at the moment is doing the reverse, speaking Mandarin to me and even Daddy. Daddy is congratulating me for my big success and he is very optimistic that I will continue to succeed. But deep down, I am actually feeling very insecure, but I can't tell all my friends that, as since in their eyes, I am already in a much better position than they are. They would be feeling that I am not being thankful. But seeing all their children going down the road of only speaking Danish makes me realize just how vulnerable a position we are in, in this trilingualism pursuit. It is a matter of time that he would be like one of those children. I need to pray for strength and determination to go on.

I started to also pay more attention to speaking English to J. At first, he did not say a word. He would only repeat after me, if I speak in Mandarin. But lately a few days ago, he started repeating the English words I said, although it was clearly mispronounced compared to his fluent pronounciation of Mandarin. But there is some slow, but steady progress in English, that is, if I continue to perservere on... Some days, I feel like having split personality - trying my very best to switch between English and Mandarin. What I do right now, if I feel up to form, is to speak one day in Mandarin and the following day in English.

Speaking English to my colleagues come naturally, but somehow, it just doesn't come naturally with J. I guess, the first language you use to speak with the person always stay. I speak Mandarin to J from day 1 and the very first hour of his birth, thus I still find it very difficult to switch over to English.

And Danish? When J is not around, I will take the chance to speak Danish with Daddy, but it happens rather sporadic. I have not been so determined to do so as trying to switch switching between Mandarin, English and Danish makes me feel like I am having triple split personalities.

It is a very taxing to my brain cells, and at times very tiring and trying. But by hook or by crook, I will go on... with all my insecurities in my heart, that sometimes, even Daddy does not understand. He is the optimist, and I am the pessimist. It is good to be married to Daddy, as he always lifts me up. I can only see all the things I have not done, and get depressed. He could see all the things I have done.

Saying "yes mommy"

J helped me with cleaning up after dinner yesterday and today almost perfectly. As he moves towards 3 years old, I could really see that the terrible two is soon behind us (hopefully).

My best friend Jannie reminded me that children wants you to decide, and are happier, when you are firm and decide, and love you even more. How right she is. Her daughter loves her dad a lot, because he is more firm.

I am the lenient one at home. However, recently, I have become more resolved. I give J instructions, and expect him to say "yes, mommy" (in mandarin). Thank God, J has been willing to say, "yes mommy" without going to war. I have noticed that when he said "yes mommy", he would be more willing to obey my instructions. I have also asked him to look into my eyes when saying "yes, mommy", but I have not been very successful yet. He would always avoid eye contact.

Yesterday, J succeeded in getting out of the crib on his own. It would be a short-lived period of using it as a time out site soon...

Loves to Sing

J loves to sing now. I am trying to follow him and incorporate more singing into our activities.

Montessori Activity: Storage Containers with Screw-On Lids

Age: From 2.5 years old

Materials:

1. 5-6 containers with lids nesting on top of each other containing a fantacolour peg each.
2. 1 set of tweezers (optional, the child can also just use his hands)

Directions:

1. Open the lids by unscrewing and take out the pegs or use a pair of tweezers to take it out.

2. Put everything back and ask your child to repeat.

Additional Information:

J tried this on 2.7.2011 (2Y3M27D) and it was quite a hit. It was quite challenging for him and yet not too impossible. One never knows which activities would be a hit and which would not. Initially, I thought that this activity would not interest him, but it turned out otherwise. I hope to repeat it soon this evening, so that J have a chance to perfect the screwing and picking with tweezers skills.

I kept making the mistake of interrupting his work. I should try to take a step back and allow him to struggle. That is one of my major weaknesses.

Montessori Activity: Sorting Pom Poms with Cheat-Chopsticks

Age: From 2 years old

Activity Duration: 5-15 minutes

Preparation Time: 3 minutes

Objectives:

1. To train the child’s fine motor skills.
2. To teach the concept of squeeze and release.
3. To teach the names of different colours.
4. To teach sorting.
5. To teach counting.

Materials:

1. 1 container
2. 9 pom poms of 3 different colours (keep it simple, not too many)
3. Medicine tablet organizer
4. 1 pair of cheat chopsticks
4. 1 Tray

Directions:

1. Show your child to transfer the pom poms with the container into the respective table organizers sorting according to colours using the chopsticks. Say "squeeze" and "release" as you use the tongs. Say the colour of the pompom you are holding. Count as you go along filling the bowl with pompoms.

2. Pick the pom poms back into the container using chopsticks.

3. Encourage your child to try.

Additional Information:

You can get pom poms from Amazon:

http://amzn.to/24rB1pF

Prayer Jar for Children

Age: From 2.5 years old

Objective(s): To teach the child how to pray in a fun way

Materials:
1. Empty cleaned jam, nut butter or baby food jars with lid
2. Clipart with a child prayer printed with the words “I Can Pray”
3. Fun stickers such as stars, etc.
4. Pictures of prayer items or 4 small pieces of paper for the child to draw
5. Crayons/pencils
6. A ribbon

Directions:
1. Give each child a jar and tie the ribbon around the neck of the jar.

2. Help him put one of the provided “I Can Pray” clipart labels on it. They can also use other stickers to decorate their jar.

3. Print out pictures as prayer items such as mommy, daddy, grannny, granddad, your church, your country, people who are sick, the poor, a good sleep, etc.

4. Let your child choose approx. 3 pictures of the prayer items he would like to pray for and ask him to put them into the jar.

5. Each morning or evening during bed time prayer, take out each of the picture from the jar and pray together with your child.

6. Suggest that your child to try and pray by telling him that praying is like talking to God.

* If your child is old enough to draw, give him pieces of paper for him to draw the things he would like to pray for and ask him to put his drawings into the prayer jar.

You can also let your child put out the labels and glue it onto the jar.

Tips:
If you print two sets of prayer item pictures, you can use it for a matching game. Turn all the picture face down, and ask the children to each take turn to turn two pictures randomly. If the two pictures match, he gets to keep the pictures. The child with the most set of pictures win.

Additional Information:
This is one of the ways you can make teaching the lesson about prayer fun for children.

I wonder whether Joshua really understands the concept of prayer jars, but some evenings during bedtime, Joshua would ask me to bring the jar to his bed, and say to me that he wanted to pray for some items from the prayer jar. However, he would take out all the items in the jar!!! Well, now I try to limit him to take out at most 4-5 items from the jar, as otherwise, the bed time routine would drag until the morning! We would pray and then he would request me to put all the items back into the jar.

Montessori Activity: Teaching Basic Counting to Toddlers with Glass Stones

Age: From 2.5 years old (Level 3)

Activity Duration: 10 minutes

Objective(s):
1. To teach counting.
2. To train number recognition

Materials:
1. 1 - 5 number magnets or 1-5 number cards in a container
2. 15 glass stones or just small stones in a container
3. 1 tray

Directions:
1. Demonstrate to your child by putting out the number magnets or cards in order from 1 to 5, reciting the name of the number as you go along.

2. Allocate 1 glass stone, count 1 and place it in front of the number 1 magnet. Then allocate 2 glass stones, count it a loud and place it in front of the number 2 magnet. Do the same for the rest of the number.

3. Put back the materials into the respective containers and encourage your child to try.

Additional Information:
J could now say from 1 to 10 in Mandarin Chinese (however he keeps missing out the number 4). He also could count from 1-2, and occasionally 3. So I thought I will try out this activity and see how it goes.

Montessori Activity: Teaching Basic Counting to Toddlers with Small Stones

Age: From 2.5 years old (Level 3)

Activity Duration: 10 minutes

Objective(s):

1. To teach counting.
2. To train number recognition

Materials:

1. 1-5 number typed or hand-written cards in a container
2. 15 small stones in a container
3. 1 tray

Directions:

1. Demonstrate to your child by putting out the number magnets or cards in order from 1 to 5, reciting the name of the number as you go along.

2. Allocate 1 glass stone, count 1 and place it in front of the number 1 magnet. Then allocate 2 glass stones, count it a loud and place it in front of the number 2 magnet. Do the same for the rest of the number.

3. Put back the materials into the respective containers and encourage your child to try.

Additional Information:

Why pay so much for Montessori materials when you can use glass stones. But why pay for glass stones, when you can use ordinary stones (unless you are vain like me, and bought those glass stones)!!!

J could now say from 1 to 10 in Mandarin Chinese (however he keeps missing out the number 4). He also could count from 1-2, and occasionally 3. So I thought I will try out this activity and see how it goes.

The Importance of Teaching Your Child to Use Chopsticks

As I started implementing Montessori’s Practical Life lessons with J, which aims to develop children’s fine motor coordination skills, it dons on me more and more that actually “Montessori” type lessons began in China a few thousand years ago – through chopsticks.

Montessori’s practical life lessons of transferring items with tongs, tweezers, etc. are actually similar to the Chineses' way of transferring food into their mouth with chop-sticks. So perhaps the Chinese have actually been having some Montessori lessons at least 3 times a day – morning breakfast, afternoon lunch and evening dinner for thousands of years!!!

Chopsticks orginated in China sometime during the Shang dynasty (1766-1122 B.C.). Its use was spread to Korea, Japan and other parts of Asia. The Japanese, Koreans, Chinese and Singaporeans believe that using chopsticks stimulate the development of a child’s intellectual development.

It therefore got me interested to start and do some research into the use of chop-sticks and its correlation with the intellectual development of children, but the findings are so far inconclusive and non-scientifically proven.

A Japanese website http://www.hyozaemon.co.jp/ claims that a person uses about 30 articulations and 50 small muscles when using chopsticks. According to the website, “the movement of the hands, especially the fingers, stimulates the development of this net. As a young child exercises the fingers, the net of nerve cells in the brain governing the movement of hands and fingers develops. In response, mobility of the hands increases and the fingers begin to function as desired, and as the ability to move the body develops, thought, understanding, and imagination processes also develop which means that using chopsticks and pencils stimulates the development of a child's intellectual faculties.”

What about any scientific study that supports the effectiveness of Montessori teaching method? The closest I have found is this article "The Montessori Mafia" which lists the number of creative elites such as Google's Founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin, who all had attended a Montessori School when they were preschoolers.

If using chopsticks "tastes" a little similar to Montessori's concept, then perhaps the success of Montessori teaching concept does lend a little credibility to the Chineses' belief that using chopsticks stimulate intellectual development... ok, I am stretching it a little too far here!

To summarize, the use of chopsticks thus has the following objectives:

1. Helps to develop the child’s fine motor skills
2. Helps to develop the child’s eye-hand coordination skills
3. Through the above two ways, it thus helps to stimulate intellectual brain development
4. Develops the small muscles
5. Helps the child to become familiar with the handwriting position at an early age

Here are some toddlers 2 years old or younger who have learned to use chopsticks successfully:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIn0rPEGr28&feature=autoplay&list=ULCCq2yBJfPB8&index=2&playnext=17

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52hNiYauNQo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQU7r0kpZyA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIXPnR5AOc0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPEVVD4ond4&feature=related

So why am I waiting to introduce chopsticks to J, especially when it is such a natural part of our culture!!! Myth or fact, I would rather err on the wrong side and start introducing the use of chopsticks. And better late than never! I will start tomorrow for dinner and make chopsticks a more integral part of our normal daily life, especially during meal time.

It is very sad that more and more Chinese families in Singapore are resorting to the convenience of using fork and knife to eat Chinese food, also many Danish-Chinese families here in Denmark.

Teaching your child to use chopsticks is not just for cultural heritage’s sake, but to help them in their intellectual development. I think if more Chinese parents realize that, they would be pragmatic enough to try harder to keep the use of chopsticks as an integral part of home life, instead of succumbing to modern conveniences. Also, once mastered, to the Chinese, using the chopsticks is actually more convenient than using other cutleries. The Japanese, Koreans and Chinese use chopsticks as their cooking tool too - beating the eggs, etc.

I found some wonderful training chopsticks for children from www.amazon.com. I intend to buy a set of right-handed and left-handed chopsticks each for J, so that they can help train both his right and left brains. Unfortunately, the supplier does not ship to Denmark or Singapore. If you live in the USA, you may want to check these training chopsticks out:

Additional Information:
Chopsticks come in pairs and are considered an auspicious item by the Chinese at weddings, because they symbolize togetherness. Some families have the tradition of giving chopsticks to the bride on her wedding day. Traditionally to the Chinese, giving chopsticks to children represents a wish for a buoyant childhood. Presenting chopsticks as a gift to the elderly is a symbol of well-wishes for longevity and good health.

References:
http://www.hyozaemon.co.jp/english/Ehashi_01.html#bodies
http://www.lionshome.org.sg/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9&Itemid=27
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Chopsticks.html

2 July 2011 (2Y3M28D) - First real practice with chopsticks... pretty good :-)

Montessori Activity: Washing Toys

Age: From 2 years old

Activity Duration: 15 minutes

Objective(s):

1. To teach the child to care for things.

Materials:

1. 1 basin half-filled with water
2. Toys to be washed
3. 1 brush
4. Body shower cream

Directions:

1. Squeeze a bit of shower cream into the basin and fill it with water to create bubbles.

2. Put in the toys for washing.

3. Demonstrate to the child how to wash the toys. Tell him that now we will learn to wash the toys together.

4. Invite the child to try.

Additional Information:

We managed to go for a round at the Summer Sunday flea market today, before heading off to church. I love to get some good bargains from flea market, but hate to wash the toys afterwards. Unfortunately, Daddy is not too keen to help me with this boring task too :-( But I have now found myself a "helper". I enjoy setting up activities for J. When turning this mundane washing toy activity into something educational for J, suddenly it makes me feel passionate about washing toys and looking forward to washing the toys.

I set up the cleaning equipment and let J (2Y3M21D) "wash" the toys until he is done with it. Well, he plays more with it, than real washing, as can be seen in the picture! Then I take over and give the toys a real wash. He can help me to wipe it dry afterwards.

Montessori Activity: Dinosaur "Excavation" Site Sensory Box

Inspired by Nurturing the Tender Years

Age: From 2 years old

Activity Duration: Unlimited

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Objective(s): To develop the 5 senses

Materials:

1. 10 small dinosaur figurines
2. Storage box with lid 60 x 40 x 18 cm (approx. 30 litres capacity)
3. Sand
4. Garden spade or paint brush
5. Magnifying glass

Directions:

1. Put this together with your child if he is old enough, if not put it together and then present it to him.

2. Demonstrate by digging for a dinosaur, and pretend to examine it under the magnifying glass. Name the dinosaur, etc.

3. Let him try.

Cost:

Dinosaurs: Box of approx. 30 dinosaur 75DKK from flea market.

Additional Information:

It is said that there are two main things that a child MUST play with - sand and water - because it is very stimulating for the brain. I am a very terrible mother, when it comes to tolerating messy play. Thus, I send J to the daycare, as he gets to play with sand and gets dirty, without me going bonkers. Better err on the wrong side, I brought him for baby-swimming, when he was an infant, but I have now slackened a lot with the swimming and water play :-(

J likes to play with dinosaur, and I like to create play activities. So I have created this :-). I am excited to let him try.

Montessori Activity: Sorting Textures with Sandpapers

Age: From 1.5 year old

Activity Duration: 5-10 minutes

Objective(s):
1. To train the child’s fine motor skills.
2. To stimulate the child's sense of touch.
3. To teach the opposite concept of rough and smooth.

Materials:
1. 1 container containing normal paper and sandpapers cut into 10 small pieces (roughly 3 x 2.5cm each) preferably of the same colour, as you want your child to sort texture, not colour.
2. 2 small containers of identical colour and size.
3. 1 tray

Directions:
1. Show your child by sorting the normal paper and sandpaper into the respective small container first.

2. As you go along, name the contrasting texture - smooth or rough.

3. Encourage your child to try.

Additional Information:
J seems to be losing interest in sorting things, and we have stopped the sorting activities for some time, but I am looking forward to try this.

J tried this on 27 June 2011. He wanted to use scissors to cut the paper! I encouraged him to sort the paper first, which he did correctly.