Montessori object-to-picture matching activities Last spring and summer, my daughter, Annie, loved to see the flowers outside. She enjoyed helping us to water them every day and watch them grow. Now that it’s spring again, her eyes light up when she sees flowers. Annie is three-and-a-half now, and we have been attending a gardening class …
Fun Object-To-Picture Matching Activities (4 Simple Ideas) Read More »
Montessori object-to-object matching for visual discrimination “This is a penny, this is a quarter, this is a dime, and this is a nickel.” Being able to tell the difference between these coins just by looking at them is an example of visual discrimination. My three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Annie, recently has expressed interest in exploring with her …
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A beginning pre-reading activity My three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Annie has been so excited about the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Lately, she wants me to read it to her each day, and when I hand her the book, she reads it back to me in her own words. I thought it would be a …
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Stick labels around the house for print awareness When I was a Montessori teacher, each morning I would get a fresh piece of paper and create a sign for the snack the children were having that day and how much to take. For example, the sign would say: Take: 1 graham cracker 1 scoop of raisins …
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Storytelling for kids “The dog ate the cake and got a tummy ache. Then the cat had milk and it was perfect.” Those are the exact words that my three-year-old daughter, Annie, said when describing a scene with little figurines. Has your child ever made up a funny scenario with her toys or from seeing …
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A recycled toilet paper roll owl craft In my previous post, Our 8 favorite poetry for children books that make us happy, I talked about the importance of poetry for young children. We discovered so many poems that made us laugh and smile. While going through the poetry books, we came across a classic nursery rhyme, …
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Poetry for Children There’s something so magical and intriguing about the musical quality of poetry. When we read a poem out loud that rhymes we notice that our voice has a rhythmic or melodic cadence to it. It’s no wonder that children of preschool age love poetry! Poetry for children is important mainly because of …
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Oral language development in young children In my first year as a Montessori teacher, I was a career changer with no previous experience in working with children. I went from sitting in a cubicle all day to working and talking with these little humans. I remember observing oral language development in young children for the …
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I just started to write more about peace activities for kids, starting with my previous two posts about the thankful tree and the glitter jar for calmness. In this post, I’ll share a social emotional activity I used to do in the Montessori classroom, the love light. This has been a big part of Montessori Peace Education curriculums …
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When I taught kids yoga several years ago I came up with a mindfulness glitter jar recipe I could do with a group of children. It’s super fun and easy to create and offers a quick retreat for children to explore calmness. A glitter jar is also great for stress reduction, as the holiday season …
It’s almost Thanksgiving and I’ve been thinking about a thankful activity I used to do with my preschoolers in the Montessori classroom. We sometimes forget about what it means to be thankful or how to express gratitude day-to-day with our kids. Typically throughout the day we remember to encourage manners and remind our children to …
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I came up with the idea for apple stamping because it’s Fall and apple season. I also needed a gift idea for Annie to give her grandpa. Annie is three, and she loves apples! So does her grandpa. For as long as I can remember when I was a kid, dad collected apple figurines. Whenever …
Are you looking for more Montessori fall activities at home with your preschooler? In my previous blog post, I talked about some leaf activities you could try with all of the beautiful and colorful fall leaves. Fall is my favorite time of year, so I didn’t want to stop there with the fall activities! My …
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Fall is here! The leaves are starting to change color and fall to the ground where we live in North Carolina. It’s a perfect time of year for leaf activities. It gets pretty hot and humid here in the summer. The cooler weather along with colorful leaves is a very welcome change. My three-year-old daughter, …
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“Ouch! I just stepped on this pine cone!” Not the first time (nor the last time) that I’m going to step on something with my bare feet that my daughter, Annie, (three years old) brought indoors. Children of preschool age love nature and the outdoors. They also enjoy bringing small portions of that nature inside …
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Magnets are a fun hands-on exploration activity. Are you looking for something different, simple and fun? Have you explored with magnetic activities with your little one? First, we explored with magnets to see which objects around the house are magnetic or non-magnetic. Then we made a painting using magnets. Learn how we did it! Why …
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Are you looking for an easy-to-set-up, fun, and hands-on science experiment for your young child? Look no further because this post is for you! We experimented with the classic Montessori sink and float activity. We also experimented with fruit. We made little fruit boats to see what kinds of fruit sinks or floats. Does it …
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Why Montessori Geography? While exploring with sea turtle activities last week, such as the hands-on sea turtle beach with sand and water, I thought about Montessori Geography activities I did in the classroom when I was a teacher. My daughter, Annie, is turning three and it’s the beginning of a fresh new school year. I …
Why sea turtle activities? I was thrilled to see that my daughter, Annie (almost 3), loves sea turtles! When we went to the Science museum a few months ago, she was excited to see some freshwater turtles. She picked out a small sea turtle figure from the gift shop. She carries her sea turtle around …
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Our ocean theme continued: with Montessori fine motor activities In my previous blog post, Create a Fun Ocean Theme for Preschoolers: An In-Depth Guide With Ideas and Planning, I brainstormed 19 ocean activities and shared how I use my Montessori Planner. During the past week, my daughter, Annie (2 years 10 months old), explored more …
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