Ultimate Collection of Practical Life Activities (Part Two)
Friday, July 31, 2015
Ultimate Collection of Practical Life Activities (Part One)
Thursday, June 18, 2015
“Practical life or real work activities, along with the development of language, may well be the most important work in the first six years of life. By means of these activities the child learns to make intelligent choices, to become physically and mentally independent and responsible. He learns to concentrate, to control muscles, to act with care, to focus, to analyse logical steps, and complete a cycle of activity. This lays the groundwork for sound mental and physical work throughout life.” – Susan Mayclin Stephenson, CHILD OF THE WORLD
Scooping Pasta
Materials:
- bowls
- pasta
- spoon
Spooning Rice
Materials:
- bowls
- rice
- tablespoon
Whisking
Materials:
- bowl
- whisk
- something to whisk (liquid or powder)
Latches
Materials:
- Melissa & Doug Latches Wooden Activity Board
- Melissa & Doug Locks and Latches Board Wooden Educational Toy
Wooden Puzzles for Toddlers
Materials:
- Melissa & Doug Farm Wooden Chunky Puzzle (8 pcs)
- Melissa & Doug Farm Animals Jumbo Knob Wooden Puzzle
Shape Punching
Materials:
- SiCoHome Paper Punches,Pack of 3,Heart,Circle,Star
- Paper Punch Hole Puncher -- (3 PACK Circle Maple Leaf Retro Flower)
Roller Painting
Materials:
- paint rollers (Rimobul Artist Studio Sponge Painters - Set of 6)
- non-toxic washable paints (Crayola Kids' Paint Washable, Assorted Colors 6 Bottle, Crayola 6 Count 8 oz. Washable Kids Finger-paints features 3 Bold Primary colors & 3 Bright Secondary colors)
- painting paper
Sharpening Pencils
Materials:
- pencils
- handheld pencil sharpener
Spooning water
Materials:
- bowls
- liquid medium
- spoon
Garlic Press
Materials:
- garlic press
- garlic (or foam)
Paper Clips
Materials:
- paper clips
- bundles of paper
Lacing
Materials:
- Melissa & Doug Primary Lacing Beads with 30 Beads and 2 laces
- Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden Lacing Beads with 27 Beads and 2 Laces
Nuts and Bolts
Materials:
- nuts and bolts (Melissa & Doug Take-Along Tool Kit Wooden Construction Toy, Jumbo Nuts and Bolts Set with Backpack by Skoolzy)
Clamping using Pegs
Materials:
- clothespin
- bowl/s
Color Sorting using Chopstick
Materials:
- chopsticks (Training chopsticks for kids, adults, and beginners)
- sorting tray (Learning Resources Sorting Muffin Pans)
- counters (Bug Counters Set of 72)
Sponge Painting
Materials:
- sponge
- non-toxic paint (Crayola Kids' Paint Washable, Assorted Colors 6 Bottle)
Painting using Brushes
Materials:
- paint brushes (Crayola Paint Brush Set)
- non-toxic paint (Crayola 6 Count 8 oz. Washable Kids Finger-paints features 3 Bold Primary colors & 3 Bright Secondary colors)
Gluing
Materials:
- papers
- different glue types (Elmer's Disappearing Purple School Glue, Elmer's Liquid School Glue Washable)
Glitter Glue
Materials:
- glitter glues (Elmer's Liquid Glitter Glue Washable)
- paper with lines
Using a Fork
Materials:
- fork
- package foams
Transferring using a Chopstick
Materials:
- chopsticks (Training chopsticks for kids, adults, and beginners)
- sorting tray (Learning Resources Sorting Muffin Pans)
- pompoms (Creativity Street Bright Hues Pom Poms)
Transferring using a Tweezer
Materials:
- pom poms (Creativity Street Bright Hues Pom Poms)
- tweezers (Learning Resources Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set)
Transferring Glass Beads using Jumbo Tweezer
Materials:
- jumbo tweezers
- glass/crystal beads
Transferring Glass Beads using Tweezer
Materials:
- tweezers (Learning Resources Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set)
- glass/crystal beads
Sticking
Material:
- assorted stickers
- paper
If you are looking for more ideas you might want to check the Ultimate Collection of Practical Life Activities (Part Two).
Making Pizza with a Toddler
Friday, May 8, 2015
We’re rowing Little Nino’s Pizzeria and Mavi requested that we should make a pizza. So I asked him to create a list of ingredients he wanted to be in in pizza. He wanted to make a pizza with lots of pepperoni and mozzarella, so that’s what we did!
And we just have to make Vito join or else we wouldn’t be able to accomplish this.
Watch this short video of how the boys, yes including Vito made pizzas!!
Montessori Practical Life: Folding Clothes
Saturday, January 17, 2015
We're back from our 3 weeks vacation and it was amazing! Now I'll save details on a separate post, for now allow me to show you how Mavi has been very helpful for the past few days. I give credit to the years of training of practical life activities based on Maria Montessori philosophy.
The traditional work in the family is known as the practical life work and is the most important area of an education for life. These practical life activities provides children the groundwork for physical, mental and social development. And what’s more important is that it’ll teach them the work habits that will lead to success in academic and in all aspects of life later.
One of the chores I dread doing is folding the laundry. My husband usually do this for me, but since he's busy most of the time, the folding doesn't get done and the laundry would pile up at times. Now this is where Mavi comes in handy. I gave him the responsibility of folding his own clothes, sort and put them directly in his closet.
To start with, Mavi would sort his own clothes from the pile of laundry.
I placed masking tape on his shirt, pants and underpants and these serves as a guide for folding. There's a number on the tape to indicate which one he will fold first.
He enjoys folding as he finds the approach “scientific” due to the order of how you fold a piece.
For now, I’m giving him the task to fold his own clothes. Once he masters this, then he can fold his little brother’s clothes.
At the end, he's happy that he was able to help, felt accomplished and proud that he was able to contribute something for Mommy.
More practical life activities can viewed in my Pinterest Board:
Follow Pinay Homeschooler's board Practical Life on Pinterest.
Don’t forget to follow me!
This post is part of the 12 Months of Montessori Learning which is hosted by Natural Beach Living and The Natural Homeschool.
Amazing blogs involved in the 12 Months of Montessori Learning
Natural Beach Living ~ The Natural Homeschool ~ Living Montessori Now ~ The Kavanaugh Report ~ Mama's Happy Hive ~ Study at Home Mama ~ Every Star Is Different ~ Child Led Life ~ Grace and Green Pastures ~ The Pinay Homeschooler
Sifting and Discovering Gems!
Sunday, June 2, 2013
This is one activity my son truly enjoyed :) We never had "practical life" activities for quite a while and I was thinking to re-introduce some of it.
For this activity, I poured some flour on a bowl and added some gemstones we got from a recent trip to a leisure park. Then I gave him a sifter to uncover all those precious gems!
And it is also a good practice in math! Try counting how many gems you discovered :)
You can also use sand instead of flour and beads, letters, numbers or objects instead of the gems.
Try it! You're kids will looove it!
Linking to:
Montessori Monday
TGIF Linky Party
Teach Beside Me
Preschool Corner
Lego Eiffel Tower!
Friday, May 3, 2013
Look who's proud of his masterpiece! And he keeps on saying "Mom can we go there again?"
Ahhh... Legos are simply the best isn't it? We haven't tried Playmobil yet, but he's been eyeing them too.
Happy Friday everyone! And have a nice weekend as well :)
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