Montessori activities 3 year old

Alphabet Puzzle Tote

If so, this is a really enjoyable activity that augments knowledge on the contours and kind of letters. I'd not do this in a way to teach kids their letters or to test them but to reinforce their knowledge. I'd contain letters they are assured with alongside letters they may be struggling with. This is really a basic task of putting the letters from an Alphabet Puzzle or Moveable Alphabet into a Mystery Bag and enabling the kid by making use of their hands as well as their sense of touch simply to identify each letter. Choose the letters from the Alphabet Puzzle (or Moveable Alphabet) and place these in the Mystery Bag without the kid seeing. Invite the kid over to sit down at a work mat or table. Encourage the child to place one or both hands within the bag and one at a time, without peeking, identify which letter they are holding.

The idea is the fact that through touch the child forms a graphic of the letter in their own mind. If they are able to remember the sound of the letter it can help increase their connection between the sound as well as the shape and form of the letter. As an extension, if you have comprised vowels and consonants you may also encourage the kid to make some words with the letters they've identified.
Above Otis places his hand in the Mystery Bag and feels for a letter. He has identified this as a 'w'. The Mystery Bag is one of our favourite materials which we have used many times over the years. It really heightens their sense of touch. Our Mystery Bag is a straightforward silk lined, drawstring bag. I generally be sure it remains to around five items in the bag. These posts reveal a number of the ways in which we have used the Mystery Bag (or Mystery Box). With all actions at home, I attempt to be sure it stays engaging and light hearted. If you give this a go I hope you enjoy!

Playdough - Four Ways

Otis is five and adores playdough now more than ever. I have written occasionally about how we use playdough, always with distinct things and in various colours, textures and scents. Adding essential oils to playdough is a must. Here are four methods we are now enjoying playdough.
1. Alphabet Stamps. This really is a wonderful early literacy activity, recalling it's best to start with lower case letters.
2. Other Stamps. We've got plenty of stamps at home so there is always lots for the sons to choose from. I've likewise wiped down our Melissa and Doug stamps and these work extremely nicely with the playdough too!
3. I love combining natural materials with playdough. Feathers, shells and pinecones may also result in creative play with playdough.
4. Galaxy Dough!! I first read about Galaxy Dough at Fairy Dust Teaching. It is just black playdough with a lot of glitter mixed through. It ends up all dark and sparkly - just such as the galaxy. It's enjoyable to play with as it's so different to all our other playdough. Spotlight (a craft shop in Australia) and cake decorating speciality stores have black food colouring including in a powder form. They frequently have plenty of distinct shades of food colouring which would make a pleasant change from the standard colours you see in playdough. We could make a group of playdough all in the same colour but in different colors - wonderful! We use playdough and Alphabet Stamps from Joyful Hands Happy Heart. I expect you have enjoyed this small peek into our playdough play!

Geometry Love- Montessori Materials for Geometric Form Work

You could have guessed following yesterday's post, that we have been doing a lot of geometric shape work around here! We have been using the Geo Strips (number 3.) and I'm often asked about them. So I've compiled a quick list of some other geometric contour construction sticks and bits that may be useful for a Montessori home or classroom!
1. Learning Advantage Linking GeoStix (Australia here).
2. Learning Resources Geometric Shapes Building Set (similar Australia here).
3. Geo Strips (Australia here) (you can see Otis using the Geo Strips in this post).
4. Wikki Stix Basic Shapes Creative Entertaining Kit.
5. Learning Resources Transparent Anglegs (the Anglegs come in different sizes too!).
6. Montessori Geometric Stick Stuff (Australia here) (I love this graphic from Westside Montessori School of the Montessori Geometric Stick work, with a simple description).

Montessori Sea Shell Activities You'll Love!

My kids love tasks that include natural materials. Where there is some thing for them to hold, feel, touch. Where there's something that's interesting, with fascinating minor details. Now I'm featuring some Montessori Shell Actions whom I know you will adore. Above and below is a shell sorting action that I presented to Otis this week.
The Shell Poster (left in top picture) is from Montessori Materials and the Univalve/Bivalve sheet is from Montessori for Everybody.
Cleaning a sizeable shell - Brosser un gros coquillage at Le blog de Sylvie d'Esclaibes. This is a fantastic notion, almost all of our shells are unclean and could do with a great scrub! Matching shells to cards - Apprendre avec des coquillages at Les ateliers de Céleste Pédagogie Montessori et schooling biologique. Another example of fitting shells to cards can be discovered at Les aventures chez nounou Marie. I believe they are employing the lovely shell set and matching cards from Michael Olaf! The cards have the name of the shell which introduces the language element and permits the parent or caregiver to supply the little one with the right terminology. This is from one of my favourite nature tables (which contained tons of shells) where Otis is making imprints with the shells into sand. I remember one of Caspar's favorite tasks when he first started in his Cycle One classroom (in Canberra as a three-year old) was a tray with all different kinds of shells along with a simple magnifying glass. There's some thing particular about sea shells!

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Geoboard - Three Ways

Otis has been home from school for the previous three days, so we have pulled out a few new tasks! Above is a standard geoboard with the extra turn of using grid paper. The child draws shapes on the paper subsequently makes the shapes on the plank. When utilizing the geoboard Otis normally makes random contours and occasionally creates a graphic or small scene. Above he's using a transparent plank on the light table. I made Otis this natural geoboard - inspired through this place at Fairy Dust Teaching. I really like how this is just a little rustic and makes the kid think only a little differently about making the shapes. It seems a little more brilliant too!

Using Scales and Balance Pails

Yesterday I wrote about one of our action trays with scales (balance bucket) and some coloured glass beads, shells and wood pieces. Below are some other Montessori and Query-Based learning notions that I love. These actions are also really easy to put together. Our scales were around $15, or you also could use kitchen scales, and we simply use stuff we already have at home! So a number of these examples use natural materials but I also like the concept of utilizing standard size blocks (#8) where the blocks are of equal weight. I adore the sensory table for younger kids (#6). I presume I'm going to try a set up like #3 next, where the child has many different materials to consider and record - it looks fantastic for some additional mathematics and literacy skills!
1. Balance bucket with loose components at How we Montessori (on our shelves here).
2. Maths In the Resort Area at An notion on Tuesday.
3. Magnet Trays and Scale Weighing at Learning Cente of Dundee Omaha, Nebraska
4. Fall Inspired Weighing Activity with Equilibrium Scales at Montessori from the Heart.
5. General Math Provocations at Welcome to Primary.
6. Balance Scales in the Sensory Table at An Regular Story.
7. Balance scales at How we Montessori.
8. Exploring Measurement Through Play - Mass at Suzie's Home Education Ideas.