Post-irishmomusa

Happy weekend everyone!

So I spent the day making fun, Montessori-inspired activities for Harry to help keep his tiny hands busy! When his hands are busy, his mind is happy :) As Maria Montessori puts it 'The hand is indeed the instrument of the mind'

I found most of these pieces in 'Michaels' art supply shop and also used old clothes that I found in my wardrobe. Some of the cute and colourful, child-sized kitchen utensils I came across in Marshall's home goods section recently. These practical life activities are really easy to re create in your home too for your little ones.

Before you take a look at the pictures below, I want to explain to you the rationale of these practical life activities.

The purpose and aim of Practical Life is to help the child gain control in the coordination of his movement, and help the child to gain independence and adapt to his society. It is therefore important to “Teach teaching, not correcting” (Montessori) in order to allow the child to be a fully functional member in his own society. Practical Life Exercises also aid the growth and development of the child’s intellect and concentration and will in turn also help the child develop an orderly way of thinking.

Reasons for Practical Life Exercises

All children are naturally interested in activities that they have witnessed their parents/carers carrying out, such as cooking, pegging laundry, folding clothes, matching socks. Therefore, Dr. Montessori began using what she called “Practical Life Exercises” in the classroom to allow the child to do activities of daily life and therefore adapt and orientate himself in his society. I can see this with Harry at home, how he derives great pleasure from helping me sort the laundry or helping Daddy unload the dishwasher. He just loves it! Remember the saying; 'all work and no play make Jack a dull boy' well I say 'all play and no work makes Harry a cranky boy.' Harry, and all children need to work in the home. They need to feel like they are doing something with purpose. This gives them immense job-satisfaction when they have completed their little tasks and just gives them a feeling of calmness afterwards.

When I say they need to work in the home, I don't mean forcing them to, I simply mean providing the tools and setting up the environment where they have easy access to a duster, watering can or window wiper so if and when they feel like doing it, they can easily and independently.

Mini watering can and sponge for watering the house plants and wiping the leaves.

I usually demonstrate the practical life activity in silence and just show Harry with my movement. Slow movements on how to do the activity. This way, he stays looking at the activity and not at my face. I am right-handed so I sit to his right so my arm doesn't block his view.
The goal is to show the actions so that the child can go off and repeat the activity in his own successful way. Montessori says, “Our task is to show how the action is done and at the same time destroy the possibility of imitation”. The child must develop his own way of doing these activities so that the movements become real and not synthetic.

During the child's sensitive period between birth and 6, the child is constructing the inner building blocks of his person. It is therefore important for the child to participate in activities to prepare him for his environment, that allow him to grow independently and use his motor skills, as well as allow the child to analyze difficulties he may have in the exercise and problem solve successfully.

Maria Montessori also saw the child's need for order, repetition and succession in his movements. Practical Life Exercises also help to aid the child to develop his coordination of movement, his concentration ability, his balance and his gracefulness in his environment as well as his need to develop the power of being silent.

It is important to remember that at this age children love small objects, they have high appreciation for beauty. Their aesthetic sense is developing. They want to know the properties of different materials-for example;wood is different from cloth, glass is different from plastic and clay.

Our job is to teach them and give them the opportunities, not to correct them. When a child cleans a window or mops the floor, he is not always necessarily doing that to clean the floor, he is actually developing his gross motor skills, refining them and preparing himself for the big world!

Recycling his wipes box and cut-up old clothes to use as a opening/closing and pulling activity.

Matching squares. This is a bit advanced for Harry but he likes to watch me do it. He prefers to match socks instead.

Child-sized colander from Home Goods and pipe cleaners for threading. This is for a bit later on. He doesn't have the concentration level for this one yet.

Harry doesn't use the tongs yet, he uses his hand to pick out the eggs from the bowl and place them in the recycled egg carton. Great coordination is required.

Pegging with child-sized pegs from 'Michaels'

“The child can only develop by means of experience in his environment. We call such experience work. - Maria Montessori”

This is also a little advanced for harry but it will be very beneficial to him soon to help strengthen his wrists to prepare him for writing later on.

The proof is in the pudding... Happy as Harry when he feels he is working with purpose. Making Mammy and Daddy their Irish Fry!

This is very advanced work but at least I have it ready for when he is ready. recycling my old black cardigan and used a glue gun to glue it on to cardboard.

Object permanence activity. Place the pegs in the top of the painted bottle and then child can peek inside the Monster mouth to see it there! This fascinates Harry so much!