What is Practical Life & Practical Life Activities In A Montessori Environment For Toddlers?
Practical : means basic, useful, purposeful
Life : means the way of living
Practical life exercises are exercises for the child to learn how to do daily routine chores & activities in a purposeful way.
Children, specially toddlers & kindergartners are naturally interested in daily chores. Hence, Dr. Montessori began to use practical life exercises to allow the child to do activities of daily life & therefore adjust himself in his culture & society.
All the materials & supplies of practical life activities should be real, familiar to the child, breakable (if applicable) & functional.
Preparing snacks for yourself is a great practical life activity!
Are you trying to find a way to peacefully cook and also engage your toddler constructively without iPads, TV and screens?
Involve your toddler in the kitchen! It's a great fine motor skill and teaches them life skills. This indirectly also helps in preparing those little fingers for writing, a great pre-writing activity.
We are a great fan of practical life activities and my son loves them.
These days, it has almost become a ritual that my 28 month old son would help me prepare his evening snacks. I asked him if he wanted to eat paneer pakoda (cottage cheese fritters), he gladly said yes & asked me to show him how to make & insisted he makes it completely, including frying. So finally he made his pakodas & I had to force him not to fry it & be away from the gas stove :D
Watch my son in action in the video below!
Watch my son in action in the video below!
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Toddler making Omelette
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Cutting Potatoes With Toddlers
Benefits & Importance Of Practical Life Activities In Montessori
The practical life exercises are a beginning point in the Montessori environment. They help the child in his whole development - physical, mental and moral.
- To develop the child's concentration
- To develop fine and gross motor skills
- To help children towards independence
- To establish order
- To develop a good self-esteem
- To appreciate and understand the limits of his environment
- To develop a sense of responsibility
- To aid the child in his construction
- To appreciate culture
Read more about practical life activities in Montessori HERE.
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