Check out this simple DIY Montessori Math exercise to explain & teach the concept of even & odd numbers to children. Indirectly it also prepares the child for divisibility of numbers.
If you have been following this blog closely, I has posted about the work with Montessori beads done by my 3 year old son. If not, then you can click right HERE to check that in detail. That exercise was basically to associate digits to the quantities. Quantification is very important to understand.
He has been practicing that for long now so I thought it is a good time to expose him to the concept of even & odd numbers. For that I took out my versatile wooden digit counters from the below set & Montessori beads.
If you do not have wooden digit counters, you can easily make paper cards and write digits on them by hand.
Then I asked him to arrange the beads in the correct fashion. And he did it quite nicely & confidently. Check out in my Instagramvideo where he is counting & arranging the beads. It is hilarious!
After that I asked him to place the walnut shells in pairs below each digit as per their quantities. Walnut shells make great counters, right?
And then I told him a quick story. Those which are in pairs have friends to play with and they are called even numbers. Those which have one shell left alone are always looking for a friend to play with, they are called odd numbers.
And this little story gave him a good grasp of the concept! Listen to his answers in my Instagram video below when I asked him whether this number is odd or even for couple of numbers!
To reinforce the knowledge that each number is made up of separate quantities.
To indicate the odd and even numbers
Indirect
To prepare for the divisibility of numbers
You can see the exact presentation of this Montessori exercise HERE.
Which Math exercise/activity have you done with your child recently? Share your blog post in comments below, I would love to see & get some inspiration.
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Montessori Bead Stairs is a standard Montessori math material in a 3-6 years Montessori classroom (House of Children). Let us see how it is used for learning numbers & how my 3 year old boy used it.
Material
The bead stair consists of 9 segments of wire strung with one to nine beads. Every number of beads is done in a different color: 1-red, 2-green, 3-peach, 4-yellow, 5-light blue, 6-lavender, 7-white, 8-brown, 9-dark blue. The beads should be as spherical as possible so that they are equally wide as long.
You can check out the detailed presentation of this material HERE.
Ideally the end product would look something like this & the control of error is creating the triangle.
Img Source - montessorialbum.com
But this is what my 3 year old boy did independently. We follow Montessori at home so I am not strictly concerned about the correct formation of the triangle as far as he is getting the concept right.
Material Sources
Beads
The wooden digits are from this kit
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Practical Life Activities are of great importance in Montessori philosophy, specially for young children of 2 - 6 years. We love practical life activities in our home. My toddler is always ready to help me in the kitchen & other household chores. Read on to know what is practical life activity & its importance in early life.
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.
Involving you child in the kitchen 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.
Watch my 32 month old son making idlis out of the batter.
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.
Do not forget to follow us on Facebook page & closed Facebook group, Twitter and Instagram for day to day updates that might not always find a place on this blog. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to know more about our early learning journey, DIY & Montessori-inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!
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!
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.
Do not forget to follow us on Facebook page & closed Facebook group, Twitter and Instagram for day to day updates that might not always find a place on this blog. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to know more about our early learning journey, DIY & Montessori-inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!
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.
Cutting 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.
Watch my 28 month old son cutting real potatoes and making imaginary French fries in his toy kitchen set, while I made real French fries for him!
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.
Do not forget to follow us on Facebook page & closed Facebook group, Twitter and Instagram for day to day updates that might not always find a place on this blog. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to know more about our early learning journey, DIY & Montessori-inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!
My 27 month old son helped me prepare an omelette :) Here is a quick video of this Montessori Inspired Practical Life activity !
DISCLAIMER - please take the necessary safety measures while working with kids.
Benefits Of Practical Life Activities
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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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.
My 2.4 year old son baked a brownie for his dad to celebrate Father's day :) Why should girls have all the fun in the kitchen! Here is my son baking a brownie! It is such a pleasure to see such young kids working in the kitchen. Watch the video to experience it :)
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.
If you loved this post, you might also want to check out more such posts & videos on my Blog & YouTube channel. Do not forget to subscribe to both of them for regular updates!
If you are a Facebook person then I would love to see you on my Facebook Page and closed Facebook Group where I share my daily mini stories/updates that do not always find a place on the blog & YouTube. You can also follow my updates on Twitter & Instagram (@kuhoogupta)
Sharing some Montessori inspired educational activities that I had set up for my 26 months old son around Easter time. Do checkout my Easter storytelling setup HERE.
Hope you found some ideas for your child from this video.
If you prefer seeing pictures of the activities, then here are the pics!
My son is now 2.2 years and art at our home is mostly about open-ended exploration with various mediums like crayons, pencil colors, water colors, tempera paints, sketch pens, ice paints etc.
At the end of an engrossed art session, my toddler calls me to his art desk & tell me, mumma, see I made a sun. Mumma, see this is road & car, this is a house.
Ice painting
tempera paints using paint brush
Mumma, this is golden sun, red sun & green sun!
And the art work never looks like that particular object, of course because he is just 2.2 years right now. But what I am happy about is the way he is continuing to express himself on the paper, with no adult prompts, totally motivated on his own.
There are so many of his art works now that I have no idea how to store them ;)
Last night he did this painting while I was browsing through facebook on my bed.
Mumma, this is Anaconda
Usually, he calls me to show his artwork when he is done, but last night he suddenly got up from his chair & ran away from the room. I asked him what happened? He said with a mischevious smile, mumma, I made an anaconda, he is going to bite me! I laughed out so loud on this :) Then he teasingly said, mumma, this is just a toy anaconda, it will not bite me!
I was so surprised & amused with this episode that I decided to write this entire blog post on open-ended art for toddlers! Hope this is useful for you too.
What Does An Open-Ended Art Activity Mean?
Here is a checklist to know if what you are doing with your child is open-ended or not -
Variety of art supplies are there for the child to choose from & there are no direct instructions to choose one or more
The supplies are kept at a reachable place for the toddler, the furniture is child-sized so that the toddler can help himself when he wants to practice art
The place where the child would practice art is accessible, well maintained & clean
There is no end product or sample to follow, the child is free to express with the art supplies
There are no step-by-step instructions
The emphasis is on the process of making the art & not the final product, there is no right or wrong way to create an art work
The end product may or may not look like some creature or some thing really
The child decides the time & duration when he wants to do the art, there is no arts-time in the time-table
How Does An Open-Ended Art Exercise Help Toddlers?
Fosters independence & responsibility while they freely use the materials & take care of them
Enhances their power of expression while they use their little hands to reflect themselves on to a piece of paper
Enhances intrinsic motivation because there is no one to tell them when & what to paint. Going forward in life, it is very important to have that intrinsic motivation to succeed
Boosts their creativity
The process of making such art relaxes them, it is therapeutic
Kids feel accomplished when they make something they want to make themselves, it boosts their self-esteem
It improves their planning, problem-solving & comprehension skills as they try to create something on paper that they have in mind, they choose the art medium, colors, shapes all by themselves
It enhances their fine motor skills of course!
How To Encourage?
I have set up a small arts corner at my place where he can work on his art projects independently & whenever he wants to. Sometimes the masterpieces are done in the mornings, sometimes evenings & sometimes at midnight too ;) This is so Montessori inspired! The prepared environment for the child :)
Here is a sneak peek into my toddler's art corner. I have used whatever I had at home, no fancy easels or boards. It is super budget friendly. You can take some ideas to set up something similar with what you already have at home.
I would love to hear from you all & see pictures of your child's art spaces!
I get such questions often in my parenting workshops & as personal messages -
My 2/3 year old is hyper active. He does not sit at one place. What activities can I do with him?
I have very less domestic help. How can I keep my toddler occupied while I finish my daily chores?
How can I start implementing Montessori at home?
How can I increase the concentration of my toddler?
And many more such questions...
The answer is simple but rather difficult to implement. The first thing I answer to such questions is at this age, involve them in daily household chores - which in Montessori terms mean - involve your toddlers in practical life activities.
It can be as simple as pouring water from one container to another to dusting a table to bringing a glass of water to watering the plants, and so on. Many parents wonder how & what to present to the toddlers so that they will be interested. The good news is toddlers love to imitate & they love doing real work as we adults too. We just need to trust them & give them freedom within limits. Montessori practical life activities are a great way to keep them engaged & indirectly these activities help in enhancing so many more skills like fine motor, prewriting, concentration, independence, problem solving etc.
Now some announcement! :)
What do you get when four Montessori moms from different countries come together to compile their first hand Montessori practical life experiences into a book?
I got an opportunity to review this lovely book written by Amruta Ram of Mumma Diaries, Vanessa Theil of Mama’s Happy Hive, Yuliya Fruman Welcome to Mommyhood, and Isabel Arango of Uno Zwei Tutu. The ebook is titled “Montessori Inspiration at Home: Practical Life Skills- Toddler Series” and is available as an instant download in PDF format.
It has some really useful tips to involve your toddlers in real life chores, that you rarely thought they would do, rather they love to do such tasks! The book has a lot of information about how you can implement Montessori principles at home as far as practical life activities are concerned. The design & flow of the book is easy & intuitive to follow. It has real pictures of these mommas' kids' doing those activities, so it is not something only theoretical. Everything in this book is really doable by toddlers. It has step by step instructions how to present a particular activity the Montessori way and equips you with the necessary knowledge. The bonus is a lot of printables that come along with the book that you can use in other related activities. The book also has great collections & pointers to some lovely Montessori blogs, so you can easily bookmark them & start following them for your day to day Montessori needs!
Book Details
Montessori Inspiration At Home - Practical Life Skills - Toddler Series
This Montessori inspired book is a helpful resource for practical life skills for toddlers.
There are 9 chapters that include care of self, care of a pet, care of the home, polishing, cleaning, helping in the kitchen, pouring, spooning, and setting a table.
Also, included with this book is a printable bundle that matches the chapter subjects.
There are over 30 pages of printables and resource information. These printables include matching cards, step-by-step cards, 100 Practical Life Skills Check List, and more!
Extra Resources (Included)
Montessori Method FAQ
Montessori Practical Life FAQ
Printable Practical Life Activities Checklist (100 Practical Life Activities for Toddlers)
Printable Practical Life Materials Checklist
Montessori Books and Resources Checklist
Routine chore chart (visual schedule)
Verdict
For a beginner in Montessori - this ebook is a perfect choice to start implementing Montessori elements at home without getting overwhelmed by pinterest or google results. I assure you will not be lost!
For the parents who have been implementing Montessori at home already - this ebook is a good checklist resource for things they can still implement at home with proper steps & guidance. Of course, not to mention, the printables & other extra resources are fresh from the oven to be used by experienced Montessori parents as well as beginners.
You do not want to miss the special launch offer!!!
Know more about this book in this video
Do share how did you like this book :)
Happy Parenting!
P.S. I am an affiliate for this eBook. I have reviewed the contents as mentioned above and, trust me, a lot of hard work & implementation has gone behind this book. Certainly resourceful for parents who are trying to implement Montessori at home.
Republic Day marks the day when India’s constitution came into force in 1950. It is a great time to do some India themed activities with kids to help them know & explore more about India. So let us see some hands-on Montessori inspired activities & crafts that you can do with your toddlers, preschoolers, kindergartners & elder children!
While it is a national holiday, let us make sure we show our kids the flag hoisting ceremony somewhere & tell them about the Republic day parade that happens in front of India Gate in Delhi. And these can be used as conversation starters for more activities that give them a hands-on experience about the entire celebration.
My son is 23 months old now & I have designed few more India themed hands-on activities for him. All of them are not Montessori inspired but they are all hands-on, educational & engaging.
Let’s get started!
India Themed Books
First things first! My son just LOVES books. He can go on & on reading books for long. So I searched & grabbed some wonderful books on India.
Matching States Of India
Though at this age, he would not understand what exactly a state is but this becomes a great visual discrimination activity for toddlers in general. My son loves matching activities & this one is more challenging than others he had done in the past. This printable is from mummadiaries.com & the foam pieces of states are from the India foam puzzle board.
Matching State Animals
Toddlers in general have an affinity towards animals, at least my son has. We can take this opportunity to introduce state animals to them. I have used the same printable used above. The activity is to match the animals seen in the printable with the animal figurines. Another awesome use of figurines!
Learning Regional Dances
I have used this India foam puzzle in a different way in this activity. I bought this sheet of Indian dances from a local stationary shop, the ones that are used in kids project work, 5 Rs each! Cut some of the main regional dances & laminated at home to form cards. The activity is to put these cards on to the right Indian state. It is a great way to expose kids to the rich cultural diversity in India.
Architectures Of India
I saw this sheet depicting various architectures of India in the stationary shop & this idea came into my mind. I bought two copies of this sheet. I laminated one sheet as it is & cut individual pieces from another & laminated them to form cards. The activity is to match them, again a great way to expose kids to the grand architectures we have in India.
Rhythm Sense With National Anthem
Music is great for kids & adults alike. Why not introduce rhythm along with our National anthem this Republic day? You can sing Jan Gan Man & play any percussion instrument like drums, dholak, maracas along with your child. Remember your school days; the PT drum was also used for Jan Gan Man? We can replicate that at home too, right! It is great fun for kids to play music instruments. Even if you do not have any instrument, your kitchen’s utensil & spoon would serve the same purpose!
Pretend/Free Play & Gross Motor
I made this setup of the Republic day parade using my son’s building blocks & some army themed figurines I had from a pretend play set. It has army tanks, soldiers etc. I have also put the regional dance cards here depicting the jhaankis that every state’s people put up in the parade. I will let this be a free play session & let him explore this setup. He has been asking so many questions these days, what is this, who is this, where did this come from, etc. So I am sure I am going to get a lot of questions out of this setup as well. And questions are great as conversation starters to build upon their existing vocabulary & knowledge base. I am also going to do this gross motor activity with him – doing the march-past – left right left. He now knows what is left & what is right. So this should be fun!
Indian Tricolor
Boys and vehicles are inseparable I believe. They can never get enough of vehicles. For that matter, I have also seen many girls obsessed with cars J My son can easily throw a tantrum in a toy shop seeing ANY kind of a vehicle. So this time, I thought of making our Indian tricolor using his vehicles. These days, he is into this sensitive period of lining everything he sees - vehicles, pillows, vegetables, anything. So we made this tricolor using his vehicles.
Flag Making & Coloring
We also made India flag using ruler (his current fascination) & Stokmar block crayons (a typical Waldorf art supply). Take a look below.
Air Show Painting
We also simulated the air show that happens usually in the Republic Day parade. I used the mixture of flour, water & food color & created the tricolors - safron, white & green. Then he poured the paints on the paper & used the jet planes miniatures to form patterns with these colors. We talked about how fighter planes fly in the sky & make patterns with these colors.
Hope you liked these ideas!
Wish you all a very happy Republic Day. Jai Hind!
Do not forget to follow "The K Junction" on Facebook page & closed Facebook group, Twitter and Instagram for day to day updates that might not always find a place on this blog. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to know more about our early learning journey, DIY & Montessori & Waldorf inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!
