A Fun Math Activity

This is another activity that Lisa sent us. O put the numbers (made out of contruction paper) in order from 0 to 9. Then she counted out the correct number of paws (foam) for each number. She's getting really good at this type of work, and she loves doing it!

Open/Shut Activity for Baby

I set up a basket of open/shut containers for E, and she really likes it. I put a box and a basket in the basket, and 2 was a good number with which to start. She was very engrossed in this activity. I plan to switch the containers every few days, but I think we'll stick with just 2 at a time...she is more focuesd when there are fewer objects.

A Fun Math Activity

We have been doing very little "school" work around here lately, but when I saw these plastic shot glasses at The Dollar Tree a few weeks ago I couldn't resist buying them for this activity.

I wrote the numbers 0 through 10 on dot stickers and stuck one on each glass. O put the glasses in order and then put the correct number of toothpicks in each one.

One thing I like about this activity is that it takes up VERY little space!

MMM...Smells Good!

I recently found a set of 6 glass spice jars at the thrift store, and I could not resist buying them to set up a scent sniffing activity for E.

To set up this activity, I put a cotton ball with a different scent in each bottle. (I plan to change the scents every couple of weeks). Right now the bottles have the following scents: vanilla, apricot oil, banana flavoring, pineapple flavoring, tea tree oil, and rubbing alcohol. O, E, and I sat in a circle and passed the bottles around and talked about the scents. O and I described what we smelled...she said the rubbing alcohol smelled "horrible," and the vanilla smelled "sweet." Matching scents is one of O's favorite Montessori activities, so she was very excited that "baby sister" has a similar activity for her shelf.

Imbucare Box

We gave E this Imbucare Box for Christmas, and I introduced it to her last week (I found it for around 5 dollars and could not resist buying it for her). She LOVES it! I think I may have another Montessori girl on my hands!

E's Velcro Board

E is always right with us when O and I do Montessori work, but last week I laid out a rug for her and set her up with her own activities. She was so excited that she was practically vibrating :) Her arms were waving, and she was kicking her feet. She loves to be included in everything we do, and she felt like a big girl with her own rug!

I introduced the velcro board, and she thought it was fun (and tasty!). To make the velcro board, I put 2 strips of sticky backed velcro on a board. I put velcro on the bottoms of several objects for her to stick on the board. She loves to pull the objects off and immediately taste them. I watch her very closely and frequently check the velcro to make sure it is not getting loose. Also, I took off any small objects that could be choking hazards. (I made the velcro board for O when she was a toddler). I'll be setting up E's activities on our Montessori shelf soon, and we are all (O, E, and me) very excited about it.

Exploring a New Basket of Treasures

I gave E a new treasure basket this week. It's filled with coral that her grandmother brought over for E and O, and she loves it! I watch her carefully since she puts everything in her mouth. I don't like for her to gnaw on the coral, but I let her put it in her mouth to experience the taste and texture (and I even tried it myself to make sure that the coral wasn't too abrasive for her tender gums).

I love to watch my girls play with natural objects, such as rocks, shells, and coral, and it's nice to know that they actually prefer these things to junky plastic toys (usually!). I love how E has her sweet feet propped on the basket as she explores the coral!

Fabric Pillow Matching

Here's a fun and simple activity I made for O a few months ago...I made small fabric pillows out of differently textured fabric for her to match. I made 2 pillows using each of the following fabric...fleece, flannel, satin, corduroy, velvet, and cotton (a couple of pairs of pillows are missing from the picture). O wears a blindfold to match the pillows. (I originally planned to make beanbags, but I decided to stuff them with pillow stuffing rather than beans so that the texture of the beans wouldn't distract from the texture of the fabric). These tiny pillows were simple to make and fun to use!

Fun with Knobbed Cylinders

Whenever O gets out the knobbed cylinders, she always pretends that the cylinders are people. On Friday morning, we took all of the cylinders out and pretended that the spaces were their beds. We had fun taking turns placing the cylinders in their correct spaces.

Sound Cylinders

Our sound cylinders needed revamping, so I thought the yogurt smoothie containers would be great for this activity, too.

To make the cylinders, I filled each pair of cylinders with the following materials: rice, lentils, black beans, and sand. I glued red and blue cardstock circles to the tops of each cylinder. The cylinders have matching stickers on the bottoms for self checking.

Learning to Lace

O has been interested in lacing and tying her shoes lately. I don't think she's ready to learn to tie her shoes (she disagrees), but she's done well learning to lace.

After she had difficulty with a lacing board, I put these shoes in a basket on her shelf. I left one shoe laced so she would have it as a guide. O was excited to see this work on her Montessori shelf. However, we've recently been reading Fancy Nancy, and she thought she should lace the shoe right up her leg "just like Fancy Nancy." Silly girl!

Weighted Cylinders

I've been trying to figure out how to make weighted cylinders for a while, and I finally made a few. I recently started buying yogurt smoothies for O, and I realized the containers would be perfect for this. I hate buying individually packaged snacks, so this made me feel better about it :)

To make the weighted cylinders, I filled them with plaster of paris. The first pair have 1 tablespoon of plaster of paris (mixed with 2 tablespoons of water), and the 2nd pair of cylinders has 2 tablespoons of plaster of paris (mixed with 4 tablespoons of water). I glued red and blue cardstock circles to the top of the bottles.

To match the cylinders, you pick up one bottle and feel the weight of it. Then pick up a second to see if they match. (You match a blue topped bottle with a red topped bottle). I was surprised by how difficult this work is. There are stickers on the bottoms of the cylinders for self-checking.

I plan to make a few more pairs when I have more bottles. I'm not sure if the plaster of paris is the best material to use for making these cylinders, but it works for now. This activity was simple to put together and fun to do!

The Montessori Goldmine

If you are in need of Montessori inspiration head over to Jo's new blog, The Montessori Goldmine. You'll be glad you did!

Geometric Solids Extension

O has enjoyed working with the geometric solids lately. For this activity, I put out each geometric solid. O had a stack of cards with pictures of everyday objects that represented the different geometric solids. She matched the cards to the appropriate shape. She enjoyed this work, but I realized after she completed it that it would have been better if we had lined the geometric solids from top to bottom so that she would be placing the cards from left to right. I'll remember next time...

I downloaded and printed the geometric solids cards from Our Montessori Story.

The Moveable Alphabet...

...or not! My birthday was the day after Easter, so we celebrated on Easter with the delicious cheese braid that my mom makes for me every year. This year she bought candy letters to spell out Happy Birthday. After they sang to me, O started playing with the letters and making and reading words. What fun!



As an ironic side note, my mom gave me an avocado pitter for my birthday...I cut my finger the next day using a knife to pit an avocado. As I was bringing the knife down to the avocado pit, I was thinking "I should find the avocado pitter that mom just gave me." As I was bleeding all over the kitchen, I was thinking "I REALLY should have found and used the avocado pitter!"

E's Treasure Basket

I'm SO excited that E is big enough for a treasure basket of household items to explore. The idea for a treasure basket full of different textured items came from How To Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way by Tim Seldin. This was one of the 1st Montessori books I read and one of my favorite.

I had a lot of fun gathering objects for E's first treasure basket. The items include a small, velvet pillow, a toilet paper tube (I let her mouth this for a few minutes before removing it...I didn't want it to come apart and get in her mouth), a silver rattle (that belonged to Elliott when he was a baby), one of O's unit blocks, a baby food jar filled with mulitcolored pony beads, a sea sponge, a small metal whisk from O's play kitchen, and a plastic bottle with a marble inside. E LOVED exploring (tasting!) all of the objects in her basket. She even threw the velvet pillow about 3 feet. O and I were amazed, and I think E was surprised, too :) E was happily engaged in her play for about 15 minutes or more which is A LOT for her 5 month old self! I'm looking forward to putting new objects in E's special basket each week!

Walking the Line...Valentine's Day Style :)

This is the last Valentine's Day post, I promise! For this activity, I used a long piece of red yarn that I shaped into a heart on the rug. O REALLY enjoyed walking the line that was shaped like a heart! She's very into balancing lately, so she had fun balancing beanbags on her head as she walked. We really need to walk on the line more often!

Would This Be Allowed...

in a real Montessori school?! O has recently developed a love for her knobbed cylinders. After she completed the work correctly, she started pretending that the cylinders were a mama and her babies. She had a great time, and I couldn't bring myself to interrupt her creative play. Would this type of play be allowed in a "real" Montessori school?

Just in case you are wondering...the big cylinder that is lying down is actually a mama who is having a baby.

Cutting Hearts

I told O last week that I'd show her how to cut hearts. She assured me that she couldn't cut a heart, so she was SUPER excited when she found out that she could!

To prepare this activity I folded 4 sheets of red or pink paper in half and drew a half heart on the fold. I gave O the tray of paper and a pair of scissors, and she got to work. She cut along the line and then excitedly opened the paper to see her heart. She was surprised to see that she really had cut a heart! Now she wants to make a book out of her hearts, and I think that is a great idea :)

Counting Hearts

Yet another activity with the heart stickers! I gave O a bowl of heart stickers along with a stack of numbers. She put the numbers in order (she was confused by the zero...I need to incorporate a zero into our other number activities). She then counted out the correct number of hearts to go under each number. I was surprised by how easy this activity was for her, and I would have had her go up to 10 if I'd had more hearts :)