Montessori Botany Learning Materials

Last month, both of my sons fell ill and were bedridden for almost a week. During that time, I had plenty of free time during the day, but was busy taking care of Vito at night. To make the most of my available free time, I decided to enhance the Montessori botany cards and booklets that Vito will be utilizing this spring. I personally handcrafted some of these materials, and I'm proud of the results. If you're interested, feel free to come take a look!

Highly Recommended Montessori Materials

Another feature for 12 Months of Montessori series! For November, I’m sharing our favorite Montessori materials that my kids love and have been using for years.  So to those who are asking me on what Montessori materials to invest in, here are my recommendations:

Montessori Shelves Organization for Small Spaces

For this month of 12 Months of Montessori Series, I’m sharing our simple shelves organization at home. I’m sharing our set-up at home and what works for us.

Montessori Sensorial Activities using the Knobless Cylinders

Vito is 32 months old.

The main purpose of sensorial activities in Montessori is to help the child sort out the many and varied impressions given the senses.  The sensorial materials that you mostly see are designed to help the child develop discrimination, order and to broaden and refine the senses. 

Knobless Cylinders are sensorial materials that are used for visual discrimination of dimension, width, length and size.  Vito love these cylinders! We are using this every morning and he can’t seem to get enough of it!

Our Favourite Toys for 2 to 7 Years Old

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“As parents and grandparents, we think that we are showing children we love them by giving them things.  In fact such practice, in and out of itself, may send them the wrong message.  Children may conclude that if people give you things, they love you.  If receiving things tells you that you are loved, the next logical step is to measure self-worth by what you have, not by what you are.  The reality is that very young children can only truly love one doll, one stuffed animal, and a few toys at a time. This experience provides a basis for adult life where one must learn to cherish one spouse, one family, one life, instead of fantasizing that it is possible to ‘have it all’.”  - MONTESSORI FROM THE START

We don’t have a lot of toys at home.  Mavi just like two kinds of toys: LEGO and dinosaur/animal figures, that’s just it.  All through the years, I don’t splurge nor buy toys as we don’t have the budget for it. I consider them as luxury so I just gave toys to Mavi as presents on his birthday and Christmas.  But because we “home” school, I purchase learning materials that my kids see as “toys” but in reality they are NOT really toys.    And because I am frugal, I buy toys that they can grow with, MULTIPURPOSE and something that they can play together.   So let me share with you the kids’ favourite things in the house.  These are the toys that we have in the house, except for the ones in my “wishlist and basket”.  These toys are being played day in and day out by the boys.

NOTE:  ALWAYS SUPERVISE YOUNGER CHILDREN WHEN USING ANY OF THESE TOYS.  Do not leave them unattended.

FAVOURITE TOYS

LEGO, DUPLO and PLAYMOBIL.  Need I say more? These are the favourite in the house. We have plenty of LEGOs as this is Santa’s favourite present EVERY Christmas for 4 years!  And Vito’s Duplo and Playmobil were brought from the local store when they were on 50% off. I would never get them for a whole price! Vito is now snapping bricks together and loves the Playmobil people.  Both of my boys spend hours and hours playing with these toys.  They never get tired of them.  Perfect toy for creativity, concentration and developing fine motor skills!

For Playmobils, we have castles and pirates. They’re Mavi’s favourite toy and can play with them for hours!

My son loves the LEGO CLASSIC Bricks.  He doesn’t really like those with premade designs as he always wanted to design his own thing. So I highly recommend that you buy the basic LEGO BRICKS especially if you are getting your first Lego.  Having a plate is also good. 

 

 

miniLUK and BambiniLUK.  Mavi and I looooves this! We can’t get enough of answering all the booklets, especially those tricky ones!  I bought the Starter Pack and bought the advanced booklets separately.  There’s a version for younger kids, the BambiniLUK and some friend in Instagram said that they like it. Mavi is like “Mom, its making my brain tired LOL”

 

Montessori Botany  and Zoology/Insect Puzzles, Montessori Puzzle Maps.  I invested on these this year and it was worth it! I have puzzle loving kids, and Vito is currently addicted to them.  Aside from educational, these puzzles are also perfect for pincer grasp practice.  Mavi on the other hand is obsessed with my Asia and Europe puzzles.  He loves geography, loves to learn about countries and their locations.  Tower High Learning is my favourite Montessori shop as of the moment and this is where I purchase my materials.

 

Schliech Animal Figures and Safari Toobs are also an all time favourite in the house. The uses of these figures include imaginative play, learning about animals, habitat play, exploring landmarks and just about anything!  You see these mostly in my post!  When Vito was younger, I made him use Schleich animal figures because they are bigger but now that he has overcome his mouthing, he uses both Schleich and Safari Toob. Mavi is obsessed with dinosaurs, and he uses them now as characters for his homemade videos LOL.   Now he uses both types for play and learning.

 

 

Hape Uppercase, Lowercase and Number Puzzles.  With Mavi, I used the Melissa and Doug Magnetic letters (I still have them) and they were really really loved.  Now the problem is Vito mouths things and I made Vito use it, the sticker of the letters were removed.  So I looked for an alternative alphabet toys for us to use and I discovered these amazing puzzles from Hape. They are WORTH-IT! We love using them in anything, from learning letters, puzzles to stacking! Yes, Vito loves to stack these together! We also use it to sort out colors!  Multi-purpose indeed!  But if you have older kids, Melissa and Doug Magnetic Letters are as good as well. 

   

Because I love to cook (Asian and Italian), the boys also love to pretend cooking with me using these Melissa and Doug cooking toys.  They can play for hours with these!

M-cro Maxi Scooter.  And I just have to include this!! Because they play with this scooter in and out of the house! Mavi uses this to school and Vito uses this indoor for scooting practice. I love that it is sturdy and kids can easily balance!

And of course, nothing beats classic toys like balls, cars and PlayDoh!  My boys wouldn’t complain if they receive any of these this Christmas.

WISHLIST

Magnatiles. Rave reviews everywhere but I just couldn’t bring myself to purchase these tiles or can’t even justify it   Maybe when they’re 50% off I would probably get one for the boys!

Unit Block.  I know that the boys will love this as well.  They can build and create so many things with this but the price is just too much for me.  I still have to think about this a million times.

Beleduc Puzzles.  My puzzle loving kids will love these puzzle series, especially the Your Body Layer puzzles!

Europe Continent Study for Grade Schoolers

We are revisiting our Europe study, this time I’ve decided to take it by regions.  But before we dive into that, we reviewed some of the things we’ve learned in the past years.

Europe Continent Study: European Regions

Here’s a new study for this year, learning Europe through its regions.  Here I was showing Mavi the divisions and the boundaries in the map.  I bought this map years ago at Montessori Print Shop.  So we’re doing a color code here based on our map in Europe in a Nutshell.  Blue for northern Europe, red for western Europe, green for eastern Europe and orange for southern Europe.

Montessori Decimal System (Base 10) with Golden Beads

It's the time of our 12 Month of Montessori Series, and today I'm sharing with you how Mavi learned the concept of the decimal system and base 10 using the Montessori golden beads materials.  We worked on this when he was about 4yrs old and at times he still wanted to do the complete layout (see the bottom of the post for this).   The aim of studying the decimal system is for the child to understand, organize and  classify the numerical quantities into different hierarchies of units, tens, hundreds and thousands.

One of the best thing about these golden beads material is that it provides a sensorial approach in learning mathematics.  In using the golden beads, a child can easily differentiate a unit from tens, from hundreds and thousands through its depth, weight and quantity.  In effect, there is retention to the concepts because the child can easily visualize the quantity of numbers. 

So without further ado, here’s Mavi’s presentation of how we use the golden beads in learning the decimal system.
Units, Tens, Hundreds, Thousands

Here’s a short presentation which  Mavi and I created on how to use the materials in introducing units, tens, hundreds and thousands.

The Layout

Now for the overall view of the decimal system, combining the number symbols and the quantity, here’s Mavi working on the decimal system layout.  Sorry if he only worked till 4000, as we do not have enough thousand cubes   Enjoy!

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 ~ Planting Peas

The Kavanaugh Report ~ Mama’s Happy Hive ~ Study at Home Mama ~ Child Led Life

The Pinay Homeschooler ~ Every Star Is Different ~ Grace and Green Pastures

Ultimate Collection of Practical Life Activities (Part One)

“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

Essential in practicing the small muscles in the hand.  Practiced by younger children to develop skills essential in feeding.

Spooning Rice

Materials:

• bowls
• rice
• tablespoon

Essential in practicing the small muscles in the hand. Practiced by younger children to develop skills essential in feeding. This can be a little bit tricky for smaller children as rice grains are much smaller than the pasta.

Whisking

Materials:

• bowl
• whisk
• something to whisk (liquid or powder)

Essential in practicing the hand and arm muscles. For Developing motor skills as well.

Latches

Materials:

• Melissa & Doug Latches Wooden Activity Board
• Melissa & Doug Locks and Latches Board Wooden Educational Toy

To develop the skills in opening and closing different kinds of latches. For hand-eye coordination, concentration and motor skills.

Wooden Puzzles for Toddlers

Materials:

• Melissa & Doug Farm Wooden Chunky Puzzle (8 pcs)
• Melissa & Doug Farm Animals Jumbo Knob Wooden Puzzle

Recognition of farm animals, able to match them to the board, develop problem solving skills and enhance memory. Develop hand-eye coordination, dexterity and concentration.

Shape Punching

Materials:

• SiCoHome Paper Punches,Pack of 3,Heart,Circle,Star
• Paper Punch Hole Puncher -- (3 PACK Circle Maple Leaf Retro Flower)

To strengthen the small muscles of the hands. Develop shape recognition as well.

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

Develop fine motor skills, encourages the child to use his arms, hands, wrist and pincer grasp to paint on a paper or easel.

Sharpening Pencils

Materials:

• pencils
• handheld pencil sharpener

To develop in-hand manipulation skills.  This is the ability to move objects using one hand.

Spooning water

Materials:

• bowls
• liquid medium
• spoon

Develop hand-eye coordination and concentration when transferring water from one bowl to another.  Essential skill in feeding and food serving.

Garlic Press

Materials:

• garlic press
• garlic (or foam)

Enhance the skill of grasping objects of various sizes and hardness.  To improve thumb stability, which is essential in holding things and drawing.

Paper Clips

Materials:

• paper clips
• bundles of paper

Another simple and feasible activity that allows kids to develop their pincer grasp and concentration.

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

To develop the skills of using both hands in a controlled and organized manner.  Having a good bilateral coordination will allow both side of the brain to work.

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)

Develop hand-eye coordination, and in hand manipulation (allow using of one hand to manipulate object). 

Clamping using Pegs

Materials:

• clothespin
• bowl/s

Practice pincer grasp, a skill that is essential in feeding, pick up small objects, writing, drawing, scissors and more.

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)

Chopsticks enhances hand-dominance, pre-handwriting/handwriting skills, and improving pincer grasp in a fun and exciting manner.  Associating colors.

Sponge Painting

Materials:

• sponge
• non-toxic paint (Crayola Kids' Paint Washable, Assorted Colors 6 Bottle)

Develop fine motor skills,  encourages the child to use his arms, hands, wrist and pincer grasp to paint on a paper or easel.  Color recognition.

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)

Develop creativity, artistic skills and hand-eye coordination.

Gluing

Materials:

• papers
• different glue types (Elmer's Disappearing Purple School Glue, Elmer's Liquid School Glue Washable)

Develop creativity, hand-eye coordination, control of hands, pincer grasp and ability to strengthen hands through squeezing.

Glitter Glue

Materials:

• glitter glues (Elmer's Liquid Glitter Glue Washable)
• paper with lines

Develop creativity, hand-eye coordination, control of hands, pincer grasp and ability to strengthen hands through squeezing.

Using a Fork

Materials:

• fork
• package foams

Practice picking up “objects” using fork. Essential in feeding.  This also develops hand strength with a pinching activity.

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)

Chopsticks enhances hand-dominance, pre-handwriting/handwriting skills, and improving pincer grasp in a fun and exciting manner.  Associating colours.

Transferring using a Tweezer

Materials:

• pom poms (Creativity Street Bright Hues Pom Poms)
• tweezers (Learning Resources Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set)

Enhances hand-dominance, pre-handwriting/handwriting skills,pincer grasp, hand control and concentration.

Transferring Glass Beads using Jumbo Tweezer

Materials:

• jumbo tweezers
• glass/crystal beads

Enhances hand-dominance, pre-handwriting/handwriting skills,pincer grasp, hand control and concentration.

Transferring Glass Beads using Tweezer

Materials:

• tweezers (Learning Resources Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set)
• glass/crystal beads

Enhances hand-dominance, pre-handwriting/handwriting skills,pincer grasp, hand control and concentration.

Sticking

Material:

• assorted stickers
• paper

Skills developed in sticking activities:  fine motor skills, sorting skills and creativity.  Develop motor skills and concentration as well.

If you are looking for more ideas you might want to check the Ultimate Collection of Practical Life Activities (Part Two).