another practical life exercise.
add a bit of food coloring
so they can see how they can control
how far the water rises in the baster.
Archive for October, 2008
transfering with baster
transfering water with a sponge
can you believe this is a montessori practical life exercise?!?
kids LOVE playing with water.
here’s play with a purpose:
using a double dog/cat bowl
with one side half-filled with water,
set on top of acrylic liner.
rahmah uses the sponge to transfer all the water
from one side of the container to the other.
setting a table: place setting
using two placemats, knifes, forks, spoons, napkins and cup
i’d set up the place setting
and rahmah would imitate.
to make it a game
after she knows what she’s doing,
i’d ask her to turn around,
then i’d mix something up
and let her figure it out.
opening and closing exercise
ever seen a child snap and unsnap a purse
over and over and over again.
here’s a practical life excerise
they can do to their hearts content.
i bought some small objects,
others i recycled from around the house
for the girls to un/screw, un/snap, un/cork, un/latch and etc.
magnets and movement
from david gettman’s basic montessori:
i colored a square piece of card stock with a neighborhood scene.
made a little triangular prism,
drew a car on two sides
and glued a paper clip on the third side.
use a strong magnet to “drive” the car
through the neighborhood.
illustrates magnetism;
develops concentration.
landforms: lake and island
when sanaa was 2,
i used photo developer trays
non-hardening clay
and a butter knife
to make these lake and island landform trays.
they are still working well after 3 years.
add a pitcher filled with water
tinted with blue food coloring,
a few miniature animals,
and a story to define the terms lake and island.
small dropper transfer
using a small dropper filled with water
tinted with food coloring,
rahmah can drop just a few drops
into each suction cup
without spilling over.
this practical life exercise helps develop concentration
and fine motor skills.
drawing with ed
i’ve loved ed emberley’s drawing books since i was a child.
it breaks down drawings into simple shapes.
even rahmah, at 3, can follow along with great success.
art class on the cheap.
cutting on the lines
whenever we’d have a project
that required cutting on the lines
rahmah would get frustrated.
these printouts increase in difficulty
going from straight lines to curvy then wavy.
she can practice her scissor skills
and cutting on the line
without the pressure of having to get it right.
color mixing
using small droppers filled with water
tinted with blue, red and yellow food coloring
sanaa can see before her eyes how primary colors
can be used to make secondary colors.
she mixes colors in the tea light holders,
mixes it with a spoon, if necessary,
then dumps it into the ramekin to start again.
