Low Prep – WonderHouse of Littles

Dry Pouring

admin — Wed, 31 May 2023 08:32:49 +0000

Dry Pouring

This simple Montessori Practical Life activity prepares the child to pour without spilling, but has many other benefits. In addition to improving fine motor skills and helping to build concentration, coordination and independence, this pre-writing activity also teaches the child about conservation. In child development terms, this refers to the understanding that the amount of something stays the same despite a change in appearance. This activity is also a precursor to liquid pouring.

It is super simple to set up. You will need two pitchers of similar dimensions (one containing a grain of your choice) and a tray to catch any fallout. I used red lentils. Be sure to set your child up for success with child-size pitchers. You can find two of our favorite pitchers here.

Present the activity from left to right (pitcher on the left contains the lentils) and model holding the handle, slowly aligning the pouring spout, pouring and gently placing the pitcher back on the tray. You can also intentionally spill some to model picking up the grains. This small table top brush is perfect for little hands.

Once the pouring process is done, rotate the tray to ensure the full pitcher is always on the left side.

Did you know that many Practical Life activities are building pre-literacy skills? That is why pouring, transferring, scooping, etc. are done from left to right, because it is the direction that we read and write in most languages across the world.

Cleaning up is part of the learning process, so make sure to encourage your child to tidy up after they finish. Model how to do it until your child feels confident enough to initiate the tidying up process independently.

Bringing play to life:

One of the best places to practice dry pouring? In the kitchen, of course! There is so much to pour, especially if decanting is something you love doing. What a wonderful opportunity to get your little one to help you get organized!

*** This post may contain affiliate links. That means we may make a small commission on items purchased through links in this post at no extra cost to you! Thank you for your continued support ♡

DIY Car Race Track

admin — Sun, 28 May 2023 19:00:17 +0000

DIY Car Race Track

Tape is such a versatile material and many activities can be created with it and very little else! When my daughter was a young toddler I used to take it with me everywhere, especially to cafes and restaurants.

For this activity all you need is tape and toy cars.This tape is perfect for this!

It is very simple to do and has lots of benefits. Because of its open-ended nature, it stimulates imagination and creativity while also helping strengthen gross motor skills, hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness.

Want to see more DIY activities with tape? Check out this animal rescue wall edition, this animal rescue bin edition and this walking on the line activity.

Bringing play to real life:

How about watching a real race? What kind of vehicles were in the race?
How about setting up a fun outdoor race track?

*** This post may contain affiliate links. That means we may make a small commission on items purchased through links in this post at no extra cost to you! Thank you for your continued support ♡

Transfer With Spoon

admin — Sun, 28 May 2023 18:54:39 +0000

Transfer With Spoon

This classic Montessori Practical Life activity is great for refining fine motor skills, developing the pincer grasp, hand-eye coordination and building concentration.

It is also super easy to set up. All you need is two bowls of similar dimensions, a spoon and a grain of your choice. On this occasion we used colored rice from a previous activity.

The child can transfer all the contents of the first bowl – from left to right – and then can dump the second bowl’s contents into the first bowl to start again.

Practical Life activities have what is known as a Point of Interest (POI) – a quality or moment in the activity that captivates the child’s attention and makes them want to repeat it over and over again. In this case it was the sound the rice made as it fell in the wooden bowl. So satisfying!

I love practical life activities for this reason. They seem to have a way of really peaking a child’s interest in a way that “conventional toys” can’t.

Cleaning up is part of the learning process, so make sure to encourage your child to tidy up after they finish. To pick up the rice that will likely fall in the tray we love to use a small table top dust pan and brush set. Model how to do it until your child feels confident enough to initiate the tidying up process independently.

Bringing play to life:

The kitchen is probably the best place to practice transferring with a spoon – the possibilities are endless!

*** This post may contain affiliate links. That means we may make a small commission on items purchased through links in this post at no extra cost to you! Thank you for your continued support ♡

Sensory Play With Shape Sorter

admin — Sun, 28 May 2023 18:27:54 +0000

Sensory Play With Shape Sorter Base

When A was around 19 months old I prepared a shapes-themed shelfie for her and this was one of the invitations to play I offered her at the time.

She loved this Hape Shape Sorter at this age and, since the cutouts on the base are deep, it made for a perfect base for sensory play.

A enjoyed filling in the shapes with rice using her scoops and spoons and, once she was done, we talked about the different shapes. She then started mixing the different colors in a small bowl I gave her.

I love watching her concentrate and seeing how much her fine motor skills have improved in the last couple of months.

This activity is great for developing:

⧫ Fine motor skills

⧫ Practical life skills (scooping, spooning, pouring)

⧫ Spatial awareness

⧫ Concentration

⧫ Colour and shape recognition

⧫ Language development

Cleaning up is part of the learning process, so make sure to encourage your child to tidy up after they finish playing. Model how to do it until your child feels confident enough to initiate the tidying up process independently.

*** This post may contain affiliate links. That means we may make a small commission on items purchased through links in this post at no extra cost to you! Thank you for your continued support ♡

Animal Rescue – Wall Edition

admin — Sun, 28 May 2023 18:20:46 +0000

Animal Rescue – Wall Edition

For this activity all you need is tape and some animal figurines. Children derive so much joy from peeling the tape to rescue the animal!

Besides being a super fun challenge, this activity also helps strengthen fine motor skills, hand-eye and bilateral coordination, problem-solving skills and helps develop concentration. Vertical play also has the added benefits of engaging core strength, strengthening shoulder/elbow stability, mid-line crossing and spatial awareness.

You can also tape the animals under a table, it adds great fun to this activity!

A started doing some kind of variation of this activity at around 11 months old.

If you like this activity, you should also check out this table top version!

*** This post may contain affiliate links. That means we may make a small commission on items purchased through links in this post at no extra cost to you! Thank you for your continued support ♡

DIY Posting Activity – Craft Sticks

admin — Wed, 24 May 2023 05:26:24 +0000

DIY Posting Activity – Craft Sticks

Posting activities such as this one are great for strengthening fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, pincer grasp, spatial awareness and concentration.

In addition to all these benefits, they are very attractive, especially to young toddlers and can be easily DIY’ed at home from any container with a lid.

I simply made holes on the lid and covered the container with coloured construction paper so the label wouldn’t be distracting. Then I presented it with mini craft sticks. Find a variety of craft sticks here.

I made this DIY when A was around 10 months old. As soon as I presented it to A she started doing it. She struggled a bit in the beginning but kept focusing so intently in a way I hadn’t seen before. Seeing her concentrate like that made me realize I was never more sure that Montessori was the right approach for us than in that moment.

*** This post may contain affiliate links. That means we may make a small commission on items purchased through links in this post at no extra cost to you! Thank you for your continued support ♡

Scoop and Transfer – Pom Poms

admin — Tue, 23 May 2023 18:51:11 +0000

Scoop and Transfer – Pom Poms

This simple Montessori activity is a great way for children to practice scooping and transferring – valuable practical life skills.

For this scoop and transfer activity I used pom poms, though you can use a variety of other common household items such as pasta, beans or rice. All you need is a tray, two bowls of similar dimensions, a scoop and your item of choice.

In addition to developing essential practical life skills, this activity also:

⋒ Develops and strengthens fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination

⋒ Practices left to right movement in preparation for reading and writing

⋒ Helps develop a sense of order in the child

⋒ Establishes a solid foundation for more complex transfer activities later on

*** This post may contain affiliate links. That means we may make a small commission on items purchased through links in this post at no extra cost to you! Thank you for your continued support. ♡

Bringing play to life:

Encouraging your child to scoop their own food onto their plates at meal times is another great way to practice this valuable life skill?

Walking On The Line

admin — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 14:19:17 +0000

Walking On The Line

This activity is so fun and so easy to set up! All you need is tape to create a line on the ground.

Children are naturally drawn to this activity and actually do it spontaneously outdoors with markings on the street.

This activity is great for developing gross motor skills, balance, body awareness and strengthening the connections between the mind and the body’s movements.

Once the child has mastered just walking on the line, you can increase the level of difficulty by introducing a new element. For example, invite the child to carry an object as they walk on the line, balance something on their head or balance a little ball on a spoon. Instead of a straight line, you can also make the line a zig zag.

Bringing play to life:

Next time you go for a walk find markings to walk on! Ask your child, “Can you spot any interesting shapes or lines?”

*** This post may contain affiliate links. That means we may make a small commission on items purchased through links in this post at no extra cost to you! Thank you for your continued support. ♡

Acorn Push Pin

admin — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 14:01:28 +0000

Acorn Pushpin

Like many other pre-writing activities in Montessori, pin pushing work prepares the child for writing later on, refining their pincer grasp and helping to develop hand-eye coordination and concentration. The more the child perforates across the dotted lines, the easier it will be to detach the design from the paper.

This printable is part of a winter woodlands pack by Montessori Inspired Learning.

*** This post may contain affiliate links. That means we may make a small commission on items purchased through links in this post at no extra cost to you! Thank you for your continued support. ♡

Gross Motor Color Sorting

admin — Mon, 10 Apr 2023 17:05:58 +0000

Gross Motor Color Sorting

This was probably the easiest activity to set up we’ve ever done. It’s so fun for the child, and most importantly, it’s low budget and low effort.

You will need:

– colored paper (rainbow colors)

– 1 basket

– approximately 4 items for each color

Place the colored paper sheets on the floor, spacing them out to encourage movement. Then fill a basket with items – approximately 4 items for each color. These can be toy pieces and loose parts or whatever you can find around the house.

I didn’t have to say anything, A knew exactly what to do. She decided she wanted to do this activity mostly crawling…lol

This game is great for practicing:

– color recognition

– visual discrimination

– vocabulary

– problem solving

– short-term memory

– concentration

– all while moving

Observe your child and, if needed, adjust the difficulty level to meet their developmental needs. Are there too many colors at once? How about using only 2 colors to start with and gradually add more colors?

Also, why going on a color hunt throughout the house instead of having the items ready in a basket?

Happy Color Hunting!

*** This post may contain affiliate links. That means we may make a small commission on items purchased through links in this post at no extra cost to you! Thank you for your continued support.♡