Do you want to occupy your toddlers in different activities? As parent everyone wants to provide their toddler engaging and enriching experience for child’s development. We all know the Montessori Method emphasizes allowing children to learn by indulging themselves in activities. Here we will be sharing the variety of Montessori activities that are perfect for toddlers to create stimulating and learning-rich environment. Let’s get into the blog.
Practical Life Activities
When you see your kid has started helping you with household tasks, it’s a time to introduce practical life activities. Helping with daily chores can make your toddler feel accomplished and capable. These activities help your children to develop important skills and independence. Here are some examples:
Pouring and Transferring
- Pouring water or dry goods between pitchers or bowls.
- Spooning materials from container to another.
- Moving small objects from one bowl to another using tweezers.
Dressing and Undressing
- Practicing of putting on and taking off shoes, jackets, socks and other clothing.
- Buttoning and zipping
Self-Care
- Brushing their hair
- Teeth brushing with assistance
- Wiping their own face or nose
- Hand washing
Scooping
- Scooping rice or ice cubes from one bowl to another using a spoon or small scoop
Sensory Activities
It’s an important aspect for overall growth of the toddler and learning. Children explore the world through their senses- sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. The goal of sensory activities is to help children develop and refine each of their senses. It also assist toddlers to discriminate and classify different stimuli, building essential skills like color recognition, shape identification and texture differentiation. Senses play a significant role in children’s ability to refine and retain information on daily basis. Here are some of the examples of Sensory Activities:
Smell – Olfactory Sensory Materials
- Smelling Bottles- small bottles or jars filled with scented cotton balls
- Household Objects- candles, flowers, kitchen ingredients
Touch- Tactile Sensory Materials
- Fabric boxes- each contain fabric squares with different textures.
- Touch boards- Sandpaper or varying degrees attached to wooden tiles
- Thermic Bottles- bottles containing tiles of different materials that are used to show different heat conductivity
- Baric Tablets- A set of tablets varying in weight
Taste – Gustatory Sensory Materials
- Tasting Bottles- Bottles prepared with various different flavours inside.
- Tasting Flavours- Dropping a few drops of various flavours to match identical flavours.
Counting & Match Activities
At the age of 2-3, Montessori-inspired matching activities are the best to introduce vocabulary and develop matching skills. Some examples are:
Picture Cards : You can present the child a set of picture cards featuring different animals or everyday objects. Ask them to match the cards that shows the same item. This activity helps to build vocabulary as child learns to recognize and name the objects or animals.
Shape Sorting: This activity help to provide a child a set of basic shapes like circles, squares and triangles. You can also encourage them to sort shapes and place them in correct spaces on sorting tray or board.
Counting Activities
Such activities help to develop a strong foundation during toddler years. Setup a collection of small toys or objects and let the child count. This activity help you to introduce basic counting concepts and numerical recognition.
Creative Activities
Open-ended Art Activities: Montessori-inspired open ended art activities foster creativity, self-expression and skill development. Some of the common examples include:
Painting with Water Colors
It provides the child with a variety of colors and painting materials such as water colors or finger paints. It helps to explore and experiment with different mediums, colors and techniques. This activity allows unrestricted self-expression and help to develop fine motor skills.
Playdough Exploration
Set up a playdough station with various tools such as rolling pins, cookie cutters and sculpting tools. Allow child to mold, shape and create with playdough. This activity not only develops fine motor skills but stimulates the imagination as child brings unique ideas to life.
Music & Movement : Parents should incorporate music and movement into your toddler’s activities to support their motor development, rhythm and creativity.
Dancing to Music
You can play variety of music genres and let the child to move and dance to rhythm. This activity helps to develop motor skills and sense of rhythm.
Playing Simple Instruments
Introduce the child to simple musical instruments such as shakes, bells or drums. Experiment with the sounds and rhythms by playing simple instruments.
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Conclusion
These are the Montessori inspired activities designed for developing important skills in language, math and creativity. Promote love for learning, problem-solving and self-expression. Moreover, these activities promote independent learning and sense of accomplishment. Incorporate these activities into your toddler’s daily routine and support their growth and set the foundation for lifelong learning. Do share your experience with us. Feel free to modify these activities as per the child’s unique interest and development.
