Make your own quick & cheap DIY fake snow at home using just two ingredients & gift your child hours of free play & pretend play fun. Watch the video below to see how to make your own DIY fake snow for kids.
We did this activity as a part of our winter theme unit. My almost 3 year old son enjoyed it to the core playing with the fake snow & building snowman out of it. I also included polar animals figurines to his free play / pretend play. You can find more of our Winter Themed activities HERE in this YouTube playlist.
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Montessori Colour Tablets are sensorial materials found in the Montessori 3-6 years classroom. They assist with visual discrimination and perception of colours. They come in three boxes - 1, 2 & 3. Today I have a guest blogger with me - Devi Sekaran, a mom who is passionate about Montessori & does a lot of Montessori inspired works with her kids. Read on to see her kids' experience & extension works with Montessori color box 3, a standard Montessori material used for color gradation. At the end, I will also share an alternative educational material for color gradation & how you can make your own DIY Montessori color tablets using free printables.
Dr. Maria Montessori believed that every child’s sensorial experiences begin when the child is born. And over the years, she created many sensorial materials that covers the five senses: tactile, visual, auditory, olfactory, and gustatory senses. She believed that children should be given as much sensorial experiences as possible. All the materials in a Montessori classroom are carefully designed to incorporate ‘Control of Error’ and to ‘Isolate the Quality’ in order to develop a child’s sense to understand the environment around him or her.
One of my favourite sensorial materials is the Colour Box 3 which is used to develop a child’s visual sense. In a 3-6 Montessori Classroom, a child is introduced to Colour Box 1, then Colour Box 2 and finally Colour Box 3. In our home, we do not have Colour Box 1 and 2 but we do have Colour Box 3 and it has been an amazing addition to our shelf. This material is great for visual discrimination and other extensions involving language and mathematics.
Both my daughters have been introduced to Colour Box 3 in their schools while we use the Colour Box 3 at home to do other extension works. Check out the pictures below on how we use it in our home.
Here my daughter (4 year old) is using the Colour Box 3 and the DIY continent images. She matched the continent images to the colour tablets and continued with grading.
Here, my daughter (5+ years) used the Colour Box 3 and Colour Resemblance Pegs to do colour sorting and as an extension we did skip counting and x7.
Using the Colour Box 3 and Colour Resemblance Pegs, my daughter (5+ years) created this beautiful spiral pattern.
You can read more about Montessori Colour Box 3 HERE.
You can also DIY these color tablets if this sounds expensive to you to buy. HERE is a great DIY tutorial for color box 3. You can download the free printable of color box 3 from HERE.
Happy Montessori-ing!!!
~ DEVI SEKARAN
(The above images belong to Devi Sekaran and should not use for commercial purposes) Thanks a lot Devi for sharing your wonderful experience & extension exercises with the color box 3. Lots of love to your kids!
Devi Sekaran is a stay at home mom of 3 kids trying to make each day fun with playing, baking & learning with Montessori! You can follow her on Instagram, her handle is @minehisandours. She shares some amazing Montessori inspired activities, DIYs & her food adventures regularly!
If you have something to share with the world in the domain of early learning or parenting & wish to contribute to this blog, please do get in touch with me HERE.
I love Montessori color box 3 as well & I have a variation of this material from Skola Toys which is called Skola Color Wheels.
You can check out my review of Skola Color Wheels in this video below. It is a great hands on way to practice color gradation. And do not forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more such reviews, Montessori & Waldorf inspired hands-on activities, and much more!
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-inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!
This Ganpati festival, I conducted a workshop for kindergarten kids on how to make eco-friendly Ganesha at home. I used the ingredients available in the kitchen to make these idols.
Ganpati Festival in Indian, specially in Maharashtra is very popular among kids as well as adults. People bring Ganpati idols to their homes and offer Him prayers everyday for 10 days before visarjan into the water. Now a days with the environmental crisis all over the world, it is necessary to be more aware of what we put into our water bodies.
You can check out this video on how to make your own eco-friendly Ganesha & do not forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel!
Here are some lovely moments that were captured during the workshop that I took. Kids loved this sensory experience!
There were kids from Nursery, Junior and Senior KG and I loved how they enjoyed and chatted all the way making their own Ganeshas.
Here I am giving finishing touches to all the idols.
Check out all the 18 imperfect yet beautiful Ganeshas!
After few days, these kids did the visarjan of these chemical free Ganeshas by putting the idol in a tub of water and then using the water for plants. Absolutely sustainable, right?
Hope you like this version of the beloved Lord Ganesha. Do share how you made your eco-friendly Ganesha. I would love to see the pics!
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For the upcoming festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, I made an ecofriendly and totally compostable Ganpati idol at home using kitchen ingredients along with my 2 year old son. Watch the video for the recipe of the dough and step by step process to make the idol along with your child. Kids love such activities & it is a great sensory experience for them.
This is the first time I did sculpting and that too with a toddler helping me out!;)
We did not just create an idol, we created beautiful memories to cherish in the years to come :)
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi :)
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!
Thank you so much fellow parents for loving the first video of Practical Life tour. I loved reading your feedback, keep them coming please. Coming Friday, it is going to be the tour of sensorial area of Montessori in our FREE Guided Virtual Tour of a Montessori House Of Children, #TourOfMontessori, 5-part video series! So sign up now!!!
If you still do not know what it is all about, then check out THIS post & you can sign up for FREE for this super informative series by clicking HERE. In return, you get 5 videos right into your mailbox!
Click HERE to watch the Practical Life tour teaser video.
Hurry, you do not want to miss it and it will NOT be free forever :)
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!
See for yourself what an authentic Montessori classroom looks like. We will give you a complete overview & a guided virtual tour of a typical classroom in a Montessori House Of Children (for children of age 2 - 6 years - preschool age). The K Junction & Benmont Montessori (Pune, India) have come together to create this one of a kind FREE 5 part video series that will give you an insight into all the Montessori materials used in different areas of learning like - sensorial, practical life, maths, language and culture. You can treat this as a Montessori 101 course for your toddler's learning supplies needs!
The entire video series is FREE!
Just sign up HERE now & get these exclusive videos right into your mailbox!
Are you a parent contemplating to enroll your toddler in a Montessori School?
Are you a confused parent who is researching an authentic Montessori School but unable to decide which one actually is because there are so many so-called called Montessori School these days?
Are you a parent who is homeschooling or contemplating to homeschool your toddler according to Montessori philosophy and wondering where to start or what to do next or what materials to get and what do those Montessori materials are meant for?
Are you an Early childhood educator or a preschool or daycare owner or a teacher who wants to know more about Montessori and wants to incorporate the philosophy in some sense in your school?
Are you a Montessori trained directress and or looking to set up your own school?
Then you are at the right place!
The K Junction has teamed up with Benmont Montessori, an authentic Montessori House Of Children in Pune (India), to bring to you this awesome super informative & one of a kind series of videos called the tour of a Montessori House of Children.
You can check out the teaser videos of all the areas before signing up if you wish so!
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-inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!
It was me 2 years back who sowed the seeds and would patiently wait for the greens to grow. Now it's my toddler's turn :)
My then 25-month-old son sowed Fenugreek seeds and we harvested fresh and lovely Fenugreek leaves after few weeks. He said he will eat methi paratha with those tender methi leaves! He loves it! And that is why I chose Fenugreek so that he is able to appreciate the process from start to end - from sowing seeds to watering the plant to seeing micro greens to seeing mature leaves to harvesting to actually consuming it happily.
He now knows how important trees and plants are for us, specially in hot summers these days, trees provide us shade. And of course, that plants give us food.
This generation kids need to know the importance of going green so much more than our generation for obvious reasons!
My now 26-month-old son sowed Spinach seeds recently, here is a sneak peek of our cute gardening exercise.
Gardening in itself teaches a lot to kids of all ages, starting from toddlerhood! Let us look how does it benefit -
Multisensory Learning
Montessori focusses on learning through multiple senses because that is how toddlers learn! While gardening, kids can touch & feel the soil, seeds, water, leaves. They can see beautiful colors of nature. They can smell the earth & the plants & flowers! They can hear the lovely birds chirping on the terrace & the wind blowing. And of course, they can eat what they plant (conditions apply)
Motor Skills
As seen in the video above, a lot of large & small muscle movements are required end to end. A great way to enhance gross & fine motor skills while working in nature, no frills activity, no activity box needed!
Sequencing
A very important skill to master, in addition to using puzzles or printables to teach the lifecycle of a plant, it would be great if we can give toddlers a hands-on experience of the same. They would remember this for ever then.
Science
According to the age, we can talk about basic science concepts like photosynthesis, composting, worms, insects etc. And further, we can supplement it with book readings. This can be a starting point of deep conversations with the toddlers. They are super curious & answering their questions related to gardening would be fun science lessons.
Life Lessons
Caring & Responsibility, patience, cycle of life, confidence, focus - all these deep & profound lessons can be learnt while gardening, taking care of the plat & seeing it grow.
Healthy Eating
If kids grow their own food, and are involved from end to end, they are likely to eat better & of course healthy.
Hands On Maths Lessons
From counting number of seeds to sow to measuring the right depth to sow the seeds to counting petals in a flower or leaves in a green to measuring the height of a plant, maths is everywhere. And gardening in every way is helping the child to sharpen his maths skills.
Bonding
A Sunday morning sowing seeds with mom or dad - the child will always cherish such beautiful memories. Gardening gives us a chance to bond beautifully with our kids & have great conversations.
Relaxation & Mindfulness
Gardening for me is like a meditation. It is therapeutic. It relaxes & helps us to become mindful of our surroundings our nature. And it is the same for kids too. Read my post HERE about 6 ways to develop mindfulness in kids.
I would love to know how & what did you do with your kids in your terrace garden! Hop on to our facebook page or closed facebook group to be a part of this parent-tribe :) And do not forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel, I would love to see you guys in my next video!
I am an ardent Montessori follower & by now you must have known that I follow Montessori (combined with other philosophies) with my son at home. We do Montessori inspired activities at home, we have a Montessori shelf where I keep his activities & he absolutely loves his shelf. We do have some Montessori materials at home & I am always on a look out for Montessori inspired toys.
What exactly is meant by Montessori inspired toys? Or What makes a toy a Montessori material?
Made up natural materials like wood, glass, ceramic etc
Simple looking with no flashing lights, buzzers or whistles
Realistic looking, for example, no cartoon characters printed
Have "control of error" - Self-correcting nature of the toys which means that if the child has put anything in a wrong way in a certain toy, he will himself be able to notice that due to the self-correcting nature of the toy.
Fosters independent play
Has a specific purpose for the child, for example, it may work on the child's fine motor skills, dexterity, sensory inputs, language, gross motor skills, life skills, cognitive skills, creativity, science, maths skills etc.
I just want to take this opportunity to share with you a great brand that I recently found, which makes Montessori inspired wooden toys - SKOLA TOYS.
The team at Skola Toys believe that play leads to exploration, exploration leads to discovery and discovery leads to learning. Toys like these stimulate the child's senses by opening up a fascinating world of colours, shapes, numbers, alphabets, science, geography & more! Skola Toys are designed for children between 0 & 8 years, and are self-correcting that enable children to learn independently without adult intervention. They have specific learning objectives that are achieved through a natural process of playing - that constitutes their unique Skola Learning Grid.
Skola Toys are made of wood that have a natural appeal to a child & result in the child being engaged with the toy for long periods of time. The paints used are child-safe too.
I have these two Skola Toys that we love - Stacking Gears & Snowflake Threading Toy. You can watch the detailed review of both of them in the videos below.
Do not forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more such videos on toys & books recommendation & review, Montessori inspired activities & parenting.
You can explore more of these awesome Skola Toys on their website HERE. They also have a Facebook Page that you can follow HERE. You can also get an exclusive discount of 15% on all Skola Toys (for a limited period only). Just visit my facebook group HERE & the pinned post has the discount code. You need to use that code when you shop from their website HERE directly.
I hope you found this post useful. I will be posting more about Montessori materials in the future. Until then, Happy Parenting :)
Open ended art projects are very essential for the expression of the child! They help sp much in encouraging creativity & imagination in children of all ages! They also serve as great prewriting exercises. It gives the toddlers exposure to different textures & finger grips. A great sensory activity.
It is not about the end product of such art exercises but the enrichment during the art making process. It is therapeutic for even adults. Try it out some time :)
Here are 4 engaging & open ended art projects for kids of any age, starting from toddlers!
To facilitate arts in my home for my toddler, I had recently set up an arts corner for him. Check out this video how you can do the same in a budget friendly way!
One of our Valentine's Day activities, that I had been wishing to do for long - Montessori Flower Arrangement. Not strictly as per Montessori but still we loved it :) I did not have a flower vase handy, so I used a water bottle. Montessori does not need to be expensive always! You can work with what items you have at home. Sequence of the activity -
pour water from a pitcher to the vase
remove leaves from the stem
insert flowers in the vase
if the length of the stem is too much, use scissors to cut it to appropriate length
Wipe off water spills if any
It is a great way to teach care for surroundings to toddlers, a wonderful fine motor & practical life skill. And it serves as an introduction to botany - what is a stem, petal, leaf etc. A great vocabulary builder - learning flower names. And a sensory activity, smelling the flowers, not to forget. By the way, I went to the florist shop along with my son & he loved the experience. He socialized with the florist, got to know who is a florist. He asked names of all the flowers from the florist. He gave money to the florist while we bought the flowers. There is learning happening everywhere & everytime! I have lost count of the reasons, why I love Montessori :) Watch my almost 2 year old son in action in this video! 😊
This is Day 18, the last day of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. We are ending this series today. The goal of this series was to have lots of fun & bonding with our kids & explore the festivities around us this December in the form of Christmas & New Year themed activities! Hope you have found this series useful for your child. Of course, you can come back to it any time of the year to do these activities!
HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series!
DAY 18 - Today's activity is BAKING WITH KIDS
My 22 months old son was reading one of his books on his own & blabbering to himself. On a page, there was a cake. He stopped at that page, saw the cake for few seconds & then turned up to me saying, “I want to eat cake, I am hungry”, with those desperate eyes! Who could have said a no! He was adamant he wanted the cake right there & then and was getting impatient. So I thought let me involve him in the cake making process. That way he will get distracted from his “I want now, I want now”, learn that food has to be made & is not readily available. That he would appreciate the entire procedure when he actually sees & does it. And of course, with the benefits of practical life activities as Montessori tells us! We used THIS recipe.
Works on practical life, fine motor, sensorial, maths & sequencing skills.
For more details on what materials to use, how to do the activity step by step, age group, tweaking the activity for younger & older kids, time required for setup, if you can replace some materials with what you already have at home & related resources - Visit my detailed post on BabyChakra
This is Day 16 of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. We are almost at the end of this series. The goal of this series is to have lots of fun & bonding with our kids & explore the festivities around us this December in the form of Christmas & New Year themed activities! Hope you have found this series useful for your child. Of course, you can come back to it any time of the year to do these activities!
HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series!
DAY 16 - Today's activity is DIY ICE HOCKEY
Works on sensorial & motor skills.
Here is a step by step pictorial guide to make Ice Hockey.
Watch it in action in the video below, you will love it !!!
For more details on what materials to use, how to do the activity step by step, age group, tweaking the activity for younger & older kids, time required for setup, if you can replace some materials with what you already have at home & related resources - Visit my detailed post on BabyChakra
This is Day 9 of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. The goal of this series is to have lots of fun & bonding with our kids & explore the festivities around us this December in the form of Christmas & New Year themed activities!
HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series!
DAY 9 - Today's activity is BREAD CHRISTMAS TREE
Works on practical life, sensorial & fine motor skills.
For more details on what materials to use, how to do the activity step by step, age group, tweaking the activity for younger & older kids, time required for setup, if you can replace some materials with what you already have at home & related resources - Visit my detailed post on BabyChakra
This is Day 8 of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. The goal of this series is to have lots of fun & bonding with our kids & explore the festivities around us this December in the form of Christmas & New Year themed activities!
HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series!
DAY 8 - Today's activity is CHRISTMAS JUMPING JACK
Works on gross motor, sensorial & language building skills.
For more details on what materials to use, how to do the activity step by step, age group, tweaking the activity for younger & older kids, time required for setup, if you can replace some materials with what you already have at home & related resources - Visit my detailed post on BabyChakra
This is Day 7 of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. The goal of this series is to have lots of fun & bonding with our kids & explore the festivities around us this December in the form of Christmas & New Year themed activities!
HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series!
DAY 7 - Today's activity is CHRISTMAS TREASURE HUNT
Works on gross motor, sensorial & language skills.
For more details on what materials to use, how to do the activity step by step, age group, tweaking the activity for younger & older kids, time required for setup, if you can replace some materials with what you already have at home & related resources - Visit my detailed post on BabyChakra
This is Day 6 of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. The goal of this series is to have lots of fun & bonding with our kids & explore the festivities around us this December in the form of Christmas & New Year themed activities!
HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series!
DAY 6 - Today's activity is CHRISTMAS MATCHING ACTIVITY
Works on maths, sensorial & language skills.
For more details on what materials to use, how to do the activity step by step, age group, tweaking the activity for younger & older kids, time required for setup, if you can replace some materials with what you already have at home & related resources - Visit my detailed post on BabyChakra
