Practical Life lessons are the foundations of Montessori 3-6-year-old education. This lesson is to gain eye-hand coordination, visual discrimination, concentration, independence, and fine motor skills.
I bought the materials for $3 at the Dollar Store. The baskets were from Goodwill. But you could have purchased a small plastic container at Dollar Store instead of baskets.
*Feel free to change this lesson up a bit with different tools (spoons and tongs that are different sizes.) Also, change out the pom-poms for glass beads or beans.
Children LOVE tiny objects and boxes!
Materials:
Basket or a tray (Bought at Goodwill)
Smaller basket or box that fits into other basket (Bought at Goodwill)
Art palette ($ Store found with crafts)
A tweezer ($ Store found in beauty aisle)
bag of colored pom poms ($ Store located with crafts)
Lesson:
- Bring your child to the shelf where the lesson lives and show them how to carry it to the table.
- Take out the small basket/box, art palette, and the tweezer. Place them from left to right.
- Grasp the tweezers with your dominant hand.
- Demonstrate tweezing pom-poms and sorting by color. You could say, “Where does this one belong?’ Remember to say very little when demonstrating. The children will be excited if you go slow and look excited.
- Show your little one how to put the “work” (lesson) back together and place it on the shelf.
- Say, “You can choose this work any time you want.”
