Knit Montessori Inspired Pink Tower

I found a wonderful knitting book for beginners to advanced with a nesting block pattern. The book is called Itty-bitty Toys by Susan B. Anderson. This is only my second knitting project, and I must say it was easy, and took only about a month of my spare time. The pattern calls for striping (and I wanted to learn how so I incorporated my son’s favorite color yellow in the blocks), but you can just do solid pink or whatever you choose. (The key is to make sure each block is the same, the only difference should be size to teach the size differentiation.) The pattern only shows you how to make 4, and I am okay with that. You can easily multiply sizes to make more blocks. So, grab this book and knit up some Montessori pink blocks, for fun, for a keepsake, or to learn something new. Please ask any questions, I’d love to help.

 

Montessori Geometric Inset Substitute: Stenciling Books

For a dollar at garage sales I found two tracing books that my son loves. In fact he traced fifteen buildings in one sitting, which is huge for a 4-year-old boy learning fine motor skills. This has become our geometric inset substitute. I feel it’s adequate (and my son would most likely say superior) because he already has shape recognition. Also, these were a much cheaper and mobile substitute as we travel frequently. Finally, they spur much conversation on building structures around the world and dinosaur habitats and diets respectively. Happy garage sale and flea marketing. Hope you find some your child enjoys. I’ve seen the dinosaur one on Amazon.com here.

 

Montessori Color Tablets

This is an awesome idea from the book: I Can Do It! I Can Do It! 135 Successful Independent Learning Activities by La Britta Gilbert. You can buy it at Amazon.com here.

She suggests using tongue depressors for a lot of items. I headed to Hobby Lobby and they had most of the work already done! One package of colored tongue depressors, one of natural, for a total bill of $6.00! They were called craft sticks, just next to the popsicle sticks. So, I have the first two color tablet “jars” done now in a car ride’s time. (I had to paint the pink, grey, brown, black, and white for the second jar. My son loved helping with that while my little guy was napping. We already had those color paints at home and the jars are left over from Grandma’s jams). We got the first two boxes done in one day.

Box 1 should contain 2 of each: red, blue, yellow

Box 2 should contain 2 of each: red, blue, yellow, orange, green, purple (all of these are already in the colored package we bought), pink, grey, brown, black, white

Box 3 should contain 2 of each: six to eight shades of red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, grey, brown (we’ve not done this one yet)

 

Montessori Thermic Bottles

From Maria Montessori’s Book Spontaneous Activity in Education, “In the case of cold and heat, the child is “prepared” by the isolation of the particular sense in question; he is placed blindfolded in a silent place, to the end that thermic stimuli alone may reach him. In front of the child are placed two objects perfectly identical in all characteristics perceptible to the muscular tactile sense; of the same dimensions, the same shape, the same degree of smoothness, the same resistance to pressure; for instance two india-rubber bags, filled with the same quantity of water and perfectly dry on the outside. The sole difference is the temperature of the water in the two bags; in the hot one, the water would be at a temperature of sixty degrees centigrade; in the cold, at ten degrees centigrade. After directing the child’s attention to the object, his hand is drawn over the hot bag, and then over the cold one; while his hand is on the hot bag the teacher says: It is hot! While he feels the cold one he is told: It is cold. And the lesson is finished. It has consisted merely of two words, and of a long preparation designed to ensure that as far as possible the two sensations corresponding to these two words shall be the only ones that reach the child.”

This got me thinking about using household items (what’s on hand RIGHT NOW) for the thermic bottles. I’ve seen suggested using film canisters, but those are no longer readily available. So, here are some other ideas: plastic baggies (just make sure they aren’t squeezed, rather you hold them over your child’s hand, lower them into their cupping grasp, and lift it back up, we did this with pretty good success), but even less complicated what about using your drinking glasses? Leftover baby bottles? We filled them all up with the pitcher at differing temperatures and them my son just cups his hand around the sides (again, you’ll want to be nearby so there isn’t spilling by knocking). The point is that all the containers are the same so your child doesn’t associate the change in temperature with differing colors or shapes of different cups. We are now saving yogurt containers and I think this will be the most successful because they have lids and I can mark the bottoms for control of error.

 

Quick & Easy Substitute for Sensorial Sound Boxes or Sound Jars

We have a quick, easy substitute for the sound boxes or sound jars. We use plastic Easter Eggs. They are all in an Easter bucket along with a saved egg carton from the grocery store (all of this was free, leftover from Grandma and Grandpa last Easter). The egg carton (ours is clear plastic) provides a place to set the eggs to match them up (so they sit side by side and don’t roll away). The eggs are marked on the bottoms for self correction. Be sure to look for good locking eggs, not junky ones, so they don’t become an annoyance by constantly splitting apart. We haven’t had any trouble (and I have boys!).