Object permanence

Object Permanence is a Montessori principle that is often shown in the 9-12 month age group. Working in child care you often find around this age children become "clingy" or not wanting their caregiver to leave their sight.
Giving Mason the opportunity to explore these Object permanence boxes reinforces that even though you may not see something it is still there.

As he drops the ball into the hole, he looses sight of it and has to open the draw to find it. This focus' on his hand eye coordination,fine motor skills and starts the process of his memory understanding object permanence.

Almond meal tub ideas

Our almond meal was reused in many other activities. Here Tara made her own desert habitat with seeds and Anamalz.
Not only are these sensory tubs/animal habitats fun to explore they also bring up so many opportunities for language skills. We may never have been to a real desert but we spoke about dunes, made our own in the almond meal and what animals may be there.
Mason also had a go at the desert tub. All the fun and not having to worry if he ate a fist full or two!

This tub was our beach scene. Some paper umbrellas,wooden people and some cool water-made with blue jelly. Talking about swimming in between the flags, keeping out of the sun, digging in the sand to find water, and sea creatures were all topics we spoke about while role playing in our beach!

Montessori Almond Meal Tray

I found some almond meal in the pantry that was out of date by just a month so i decided instead of throwing it out we would use it in our activities. This was a Montessori sand tray which i made with a baking tray and plain almond meal. I put a pack of flashcards next to Tara and she copied the letter using her finger to move the almond meal.
Almond meal is also known as almond flour or ground almond. It has a similar consistency to sand so works well for this activity.

Rainbow fruit snack

We were having some guests over for a play date so decided to make a healthy snack to enjoy. Tara cut up all the fruit herself, peeled some mandarins and added some mini marshmellow treats to make....
A stunning fruit rainbow! Great for St Patrick's day or a rainbow party. For a healthier option exchange the marshmellow "pot of gold" for dipping yogurt.

Juice Bar

The purpose of the exercise was to distinguish different flavours, expand vocab and create a juice that our would delight our taste buds!
I used our juicer to juice up different fruit and vegetables. Each small glass had a separate fruit or vegetable flavour that Tara had a guess at.
As a Montessori principle, when laying out work always encourage starting from left to right. This strategy can lay the pathways for early reading.

Tara tasted each flavour and told me if it was sweet or sour and what she thought it may be

We had Rockmelon, Kale, Pineapple and Carrot

Step 2 of the activity was to tip a little of the flavours in a larger cup and taste test until you get the exact quantities you like for your own juice but Tara insisted she loved them all and mixed them all in.

Juicilious!!!!

Sponge Tower Jenga

What can you do with a bunch of sponges?????

Sponge towers!! This tower turned into a game of "Colour Jenga". We both had a colour of our choice and the aim was to take out our own colour piece without the tower falling over. Great for hand eye co ordination, fine motor skills and taking turns.

Perfume Water

I have fond memories of making perfume when i was a little girl so when Tara was choosing Roses to cut i jumped at the chance to show her how to make her own.
After cutting her roses off the bush, we sat down and pulled each petal off the stem and ripped them up to release all the sweet smells.
I filled a glass jar up half way with HOT water. Tara gently placed the all petals into the water and replaced the lid. We let the jar steam for half a day or until the water is cool.
Take off the lid and use a strainer to strain out the rose petals and you are left with sweet rose perfume water

Dab on your wrists and behind your ears to keep you smelling as sweet as a rose!