Infant-Toddler Montessori Lessons
LEAF TRANSFERRING
Steps:
Assemble a tray with two bowls. One bowl should be filled with leaves (real leaves if available!) The second bowl should be empty. Place a clothespin or tongs at the bottom of the tray.
Invite the child to work with you at a table.
If the child demonstrates right handedness, sit on his right and pick up the clothespin.
Demonstrate how to make the clothespin open by squeezing the top, holding it in front of the child, before placing the open clothespin over a leaf in the left hand bowl.
Transfer the leaf with the clothespin to the bowl on the right.
Continue on transferring leaves in this manner until the leaves from the left bowl are in the bowl on the right.
Invite the child to have a turn.
Purpose:
● Fine motor control
● Indirect preparation for writing and reading
● Development of concentration
Acorn Matching
Steps:
Assembly a tray with a bowl and three or four different types of acorns and a matching set. In this photo they are not real, but it is always best to have the real object, if you can find it!
Invite the child to work at a table with you.
Select one color or type of acorn and place it on the left side of the tray.
Select a different color acorn and place it to the right of the first.
Continue on with the other one or two different colored or type of acorns
Go back to the bowl and select the acorn that matches the first one on the left
Continue on matching from left to right.
Once all the acorns are matched, place the second set back in the bowl one at a time and invite the child to have a turn
Purpose:
Visual discrimination
Development of concentration
Ocean Sensory Bag
Ocean Sensory Bag
Age:
15 months-2 ½ years
Steps:
For this lesson you will need to prepare ahead of time. You will need a large freezer bag. Pour some sand into the bag, You may wish to invite the child to pour the sand in if this is a skill they are practicing!
Add some ocean animals or seashells into the bag. Talk about the animals or objects you are adding as you do so to incorporate some new vocabulary.
Add in a bottle of blue hand soap or shampoo.
Squeeze out as much air as possible, and zip the bag closed.
For extra security you could add duct tape around the edges of the bag or tape the bag to the table so it is less likely to pop.
Invite the child to explore the different textures and objects by squishing with her hands!
Purpose:
Visual discrimination
Sensory development
Development of concentration
Development of vocabulary
Ice Cream Cone Color Matching
Ice Cream Cone Color Matching
Purpose:
Visual discrimination
Development of concentration
Hand-eye coordination
Sensorial development
Age: 16 months-2 ½ years
Steps:
Assemble a felt board as a stationary work in your classroom. Prepare the board with several different color ice cream cones and a tray with matching ice cream cone tops.
Invite the child to work with you at the board.
Point to the first color ice cream cone, select the matching color ice cream top and place above the cone.
Continue on matching the rest of the cones.
When finished, reverse the order, placing the tops back on the tray.
Invite the child to have a turn matching.
Cutting Flowers
Age: 16 months-3 ½ years
Steps:
Assemble a tray with a basket of flower stems, a pair of child size scissors, and some small jars with a small amount of water in each.
Invite the child to work at a table with you.
Pick up one flower stem in your left hand and the scissors in your right. Demonstrate for the child the correct way to hold scissors.
Place the scissors in the middle of the stem and close them, cutting the stem in half.
Put the scissors down and place the stems one at a time in one of the jars.
Continue on demonstrating how to cut flowers and place them in the jars, eventually inviting the child to have a turn.
Purpose:
Care of the environment
Appreciation of nature
Development of concentration
Fine and gross motor skill development
Water Play Pouring Station
Age: 12 months-3 ½ years
Set up a large plastic bin with several different size water jugs, pitchers, cups, etc. with varying amounts of colored water in each.
Invite the child to work outside or inside with you at the pouring station.
Pick up one pitcher or jug and hold the handle or side with you dominant hand, using your other hand to gently hold it steady.
Slowly pour water from one jug into another.
Continue pouring from one jug into another, eventually inviting the child to have a turn as she shows interest.
Purpose:
Fine motor development
Gross motor development
Development of concentration
Cause and effect
Extensions: As the child becomes more adept at pouring you could include other tools like spoons, tongs, etc. and have the child try to fish out tiny objects!
Planting a Seed
Age: 1-3 years
Assembled a tray with a child-size shovel, small bucket of soil, watering can, and packet of seeds.
Invite the child to work in the garden with you. (If your school does not have a garden this lesson can also easily be done in the classroom with small mason jars and soil.)
Find a spot in the garden where nothing else is planted and that receives good sunlight. Talk to the child about what plants need to grow - sunlight, soil, and water. You may also wish to discuss what children need to grow! Discuss the similarities.
Use the child size shovel and begin digging a hole in the soil.
Invite the child to join in if interested!
Once you have dug a small hole, open up the seed packet and place 1 or 2 small seeds in the hole.
Use the shovel to shovel the previously shoveled soil back over the seeds.
Use the watering can to pour some water over the spot where the seeds have been planted.
Place the items back on the tray and invite the child to have a turn digging and planting.
Talk with the child about how long it may take for the seeds to start to grow and make a plan to come back and check on and water them in a few days.
Purpose:
Care of the environment
Fine and gross motor skills
Ability to sequence
Concentration
Appreciation of nature
Inserting Coin Hearts
Age: 12 months-2 years
Steps:
Assemble a tray with a heart shaped box with a slit cut into the top and a small bowl with coins.
Invite the child to work with you at a rug.
Pick up one coin in your hand and slowly insert into the slit in the top of the box.
Continue on in this manner dropping one coin in at a time.
Once all of the coins have been inserted into the box, take off the lid slowly, and place the coins back in the bowl one at a time.
Invite the child to have a turn.
Purpose:
Hand-eye coordination
Focus
Development of pincer grasp
Ball Balancing
Age: 1-2.5 years
Steps:
Assemble a basket with 3 soft balls and three empty toilet paper rolls.
Invite the child to work with you on a mat or at a table.
When you have the child’s attention, select one of the toilet paper rolls and place them standing up on the table in a row one a time.
Select one of the soft balls from the basket and slowly, carefully place it on top of the toilet paper roll so it balances on top.
Continue on with the rest of the balls in the basket in the same manner.
Once all balls have been balanced, place them back in the basket one at a time.
Leaving the toilet paper rolls on the table, invite the child to have a turn.
Purpose:
Hand eye coordination
Fine and gross motor skills
Concentration
Hanging Ornaments
Age: 12 months-3 years
Steps:
Assemble a small table size tree at a table. Prepare a tray with a bowl of small ornaments with strings tied to them.
Invite the child to work with you at the table.
Place the bowl with ornaments in front of you. Pick up one ornament, taking time to examine it carefully and demonstrate how gentle you should be with ornaments. You may wish to point out to the child that “Ornaments are fragile and should be handled very gently.”
Take the fingers of your dominant hand and use them to spread apart the string until it makes a circle.
Slowly place the string and the ornament on one of the branches of the tree.
Continue on in this manner hanging ornaments until the child appears ready.
Invite the child to have a turn.
When all of the ornaments are hung, take a minute to admire your work!
Demonstrate how to slowly, carefully take one ornament off a branch at a time and place back in the bowl on the tray.
Purpose:
Development of concentration
Fine motor skills
Care of the environment
Contact Paper Pin the Tail on the Turkey
Age: 12 months-3 years
Steps:
Assemble a large poster board on a sturdy easel low to the ground with contact paper, sticky side out. Place a shelf or bucket of collage items underneath. You may include things like: tissue paper, feathers, buttons, ribbons, googly eyes, etc.
To make this lesson more holiday-themed, you may wish to draw the body of a turkey on the contact paper - though this is not mandatory.
Allow the toddlers in your classroom to choose items from the bucket and stick them on the paper throughout work cycle in their travels around the room.
Purpose:
Develops fine motor skills and pincer grip
Development of concentration
Creativity
Pumpkin Sensory Lesson
Age: 1-3
Steps
Invite the children to put on aprons and join you outside or on a large mat. You should prepare a large pumpkin with the top cut off.
Invite the child to take the top off of the pumpkin, roll up his sleeve, and reach inside to explore the pumpkin!
Talk to the child about what is inside: the seeds, the texture, the colors, etc.
Once the child has had some time to explore the inside of the pumpkin, you may wish to offer a small ziploc baggy. Invite the child to scoop out the “guts’ of the pumpkin and fill up the ziploc bag. Once sealed, he can bring the bag inside for further less messy pumpkin gut exploration!
Purpose:
Development of kinesthetic sense
Vocabulary development
Development of focus and concentration
Care of the environment
Leaf Lacing
Age: 15 months - 4 years
Steps:
If your space allows, take the children outside, each with their own basket and have them explore the area, collecting leaves of different colors, shapes, and textures.
If time allows, you may want to have a circle and take a minute to examine some of the leaves, pointing out their similarities and differences, making sure to tell the children that leaves are fragile and have to be handled very gently!
Arrange a tray with an empty small basket, which you will fill with the leaves collected, and a small basket with a few pieces of string.
Invite the child to sit at a table with you.
One at a time place the leaves in the empty basket on the tray. As you do so use the hole punch to place a hole in each leaf. If the child is interested and has the fine motor skills necessary, she may eventually take over the hole punching or help you with this task.
Pick up one piece of string with your non dominant hand. With your other hand, select a leaf from the basket.
Place the string through the hole in the leaf starting at the bottom and turning the leaf over to show indicate to the child as it comes through the top.
Continue on in this manner slowly threading leaves onto the string.
When the child appears ready, have him/her take over.
When the child finishes his/her threading you may tie the string into a knot so he/she can proudly display their work as a necklace!
Purpose:
Hand eye coordination
Develops fine motor skills
Develops focus and concentration
Care of environment
Appreciation of nature
Pin the Scoop on the Ice Cream
Age: 16 months - 2 1/2
Steps:
Arrange a piece of felt or board on the wall with ice cream cones made of cardstock paper with the outline of colored scoops on top. Have a basket on a tray on the shelf with velcro, corresponding colored scoops.
Invite the child to work with you on the wall!
Bring the tray with the basket of colored scoops to a rug near the work on the wall.
Tell the child “Today we are going to match ice cream colors!”
Select one of the colored scoops taking time to carefully examine it before velcroing it to its corresponding cone on the wall.
Continue on matching scoops to the cones on the wall.
When all colors have been matched, remove the scoops one at a time, placing them gently back in the basket.
Invite the child to have a turn matching colors.
Purpose:
Visual discrimination
Development of concentration
Purposeful movement
Air, Land, and Water
Age: 16 months-2 1/2
Steps:
Prepare a sorting tray with 3 spaces - one that looks like grass (we used a piece of green shag rug, one that looks like water, and one that looks like air), as well as a basket of animals, some of which should be animals that live on land, some that live in the air or fly, and some that live in water.
Invite the child to work at a table with you. Explain that; “some animals live on land. Some animals live in the water and some animals can fly and spend most of their time in the air! Today we are going to place animals where they live.”
Pick up the first animal taking time to carefully examine it.
Place the animal in the section it typically lives in.
Continue on sorting the animals and placing them where they belong.
Once you have sorted all of the animals, place them back in the basket one at a time.
Invite the child to have a turn!
Extensions:
Could present same lesson with picture cards.
Talk about animals when you go outside that you see and where they live.
Purpose:
Care of the environment
Refine visual discrimination
Development of concentration
Development of vocabulary
Delicate Objects
Age: 15 months-3 years
Steps:
Arrange a basket or bag on a tray with a collection of seashells.
Invite a small group of children to work with you at a rug.
Explain to the children that “Today we are going to explore some special objects! But they are fragile, which means they can break easily so we have to be very careful and gentle while we explore the objects. We have to place them in the basket gently and hand them to each other carefully.”
Slowly reach into the bag or basket and pull out the first shell. Take time to carefully examine the shell. Point out if it is smooth or rough. Hold it up to your ear to listen to it. Discuss the color.
Pass the shell carefully and gently to the first child to explore.
Allow the children to continue passing the shell and examining. When they are finished with the first they may place it gently on the rug.
Continue on in this manner with the rest of the shells.
Extensions:
You may wish to make this exercise a matching lesson once the children show readiness. Assemble shells that each have a match.
Create matching picture cards for more of a challenge.
You may include a blindfold with this exercise so the child is primarily feeling the differences in shells with his kinesthetic sense.
Purpose:
Development of concentration
Grace and courtesy
Care of environment
Appreciation for nature
Egg Hunt
Age: 1-3 years
Steps
Assemble a tray with a patch of artificial grass (or a bowl with real dirt and grass if appropriate for your classroom!), a large spoon, and a small basket with decorated eggs. (Be sure they are large enough not to pose a choking hazard.)
Invite the child to work with you at a table.
Pick up the spoon in your right hand and slowly place it under one of the eggs, spooning it up.
Gently place the egg in the patch of grass.
Continue on spooning the rest of the eggs into the grass, moving slowly and gracefully so the child may observe and mimic your movements.
When all of the eggs have been placed in the grass, use the spoon to carefully replace them in the basket one at a time.
Invite the child to have a turn.
Extensions:
Once the child masters the lesson you may wish to count the eggs after you have placed them, incorporating some pre-Math work.
You can incorporate language by talking about the colors of the eggs, the size, etc.
Purpose:
Fine motor control
Care of self
Development of independence
Hand-eye coordination
Indirect preparation for future writing and reading.
April Infant Toddler Lesson
Age: 2-4
Steps:
Arrange a tray with a bucket of different color felt flowers and matching colored buckets. For example 4 red felt flowers, 1 red bucket or cup, 5 yellow felt flowers, 1 yellow bucket or cup, 5 blue felt flowers, 1 blue bucket.
Retrieve two rugs with the child placing one at one end of the room and the other in a different area.
Place the colored buckets on one rug and bring the bucket with the felt flowers to the other rug.
Invite the child to practice matching with you! Tell them you are going to match colors.
Pick up a red flower out of the bucket. Take a minute to look at it.
Invite the child to come with you and place the flower in its corresponding colored bucket on the second rug.
Continue on picking flowers and placing them in the matching colored bucket.
Once you have sorted all of the flowers, bring them back to the original bucket one at a time.
Invite the child to have a turn.
Purpose:
Matching
Visual discrimination
Purposeful movement
Working memory
Pipe Cleaner Put and Take
Age: 1-3 years
Steps:
Arrange a large tray with a pasta strainer upside down and a pile of green pipe cleaners.
Invite the child to work at a table or rug with you.
Pick up a pipe cleaner in your dominant hand.
When you have eye contact with the child, hold the strainer with your opposite hand and insert the pipe cleaner with the other hand into one of the strainer’s holes.
Continue on in this manner until the child has had a chance to observe several times.
When you feel the child is ready to try, remove the pipe cleaners one at a time and place them back in a pile on the tray.
Invite the child to have a turn.
Purpose:
Fine motor development
Hand-eye coordination
Development of focus and concentration
Sorting Beads
Age: 13 months-3 years
Steps:
Assemble a tray with three or more empty bowls, a bowl with pink, red, and white beads (be sure beads are large enough to not pose a choking hazard), and a spoon.
Invite the child to work with you at a table.
Pick up the spoon with your dominant hand and spoon one of the colored beads.
Place the first colored bead in the bowl on the left of the tray.
Pick up a different colored bead with the spoon.
Place the second colored bead in the second bowl.
Pick up a third colored bead with the spoon and place it in the third bowl.
Continue spooning beads and sorting them by color until all of the beads are sorted.
Use the spoon to select one bead at a time and place it back in the starting bowl.
Once all of the beads are back in the first bowl, invite the child to have a turn.
Purpose:
Visual discrimination
Fine motor skills
Hand-eye coordination
Development of concentration
Coat Flip
Age: 1-5 years
Steps:
Invite the child to come play outside with you, but explain that they will need their jacket because it’s cold outside.
When the child brings their jacket over, they may ask for help in putting it on.
Place the jacket in front of the child with the neck portion at their feet and arms out to sides.
Help the child bend down and place his/her hands inside the arm holes.
Once the arms are in, tell the child to “flip it over” and help them do so over their head if help is necessary.
Purpose:
Development of autonomy and independence
Development of self esteem
Care of self
Ornament Hanging
Age: 1-3
Steps:
Prepare a tray with a small Christmas tree, rosemary plant, or pine branches with needles attached, a small bowl with ornaments.
Invite the child to work with you at the table.
Select an ornament from the bowl, being sure to take time to demonstrate how to handle it gently and examine it before take a branch in your left hand and slowly sliding the ornament on.
Continue on in this manner until the child demonstrates readiness to participate.
Allow child to take over placing ornaments on the branches.
When all the ornaments have been placed, select one at a time, sliding it off its branch and place it back in the bowl.
Purpose:
Develop focus and concentration
Hand-eye coordination
Care of environment
Pincer grip
**Note - Be sure ornaments are large enough not to pose a choking hazard.
Setting the Table
Age: 18 months-3 years
Steps:
Arrange a tray with a placemat that has lines drawn indicating where each utensil belongs, a place, fork, knife, spoon, cup, and napkin.
Invite the child to set the table with you and bring the tray to a table.
Unroll placemat onto the table.
Select the plate and place it on the placemat where the large circle is.
Remove the fork and place to the left of the plate where the lines are.
Remove the knife and place to the right of the plate on the indicated lines.
Select the spoon and place in the lines on the placemat.
Place the cup in the circle at the top of the mat.
Lastly, pick up the napkin, rolling from bottom to top and place the ring over the top. Place the napkin at the very top of the place setting.
When you have finished setting the table, place each item back on the tray in the order in which you brought them and invite the child to have a turn.
Purpose:
Fine and gross motor skills
Development of concentration
Ability to follow sequenced directions
Care of self
Care of environment
Grace and Courtesy
Pumpkin and Gourd Sorting
Age: 1 ½-3
Steps:
Arrange a large basket with several different sized pumpkins and/or gourds.
Invite the child to work with you at a rug.
Remove the pumpkins and gourds from the basket slowly, taking time to carefully examine each one before placing it gently in the middle of the rug in front of you.
Once all the pumpkins and gourds have been removed, place the basket to the side of the rug.
Select the largest pumpkin and place it all the way on the left hand side of the rug.
Taking time to look with your eyes first, select the next largest pumpkin and place it to the right of the first.
Continue on in this manner until you get to the smallest pumpkin or gourd.
Once all have been sorted from largest to smallest, place them back in the center of the rug and allow the child to have a turn.
NOTE: You may make this lesson easier or hard depending on the readiness of the child! If he is not yet ready to sort by size, the lesson could be sorting by color. You may also wish to begin with only 3 pumpkins or gourds at a time to lessen the level of difficulty.
Purpose:
Visual discrimination
Development of senses
Development of concentration
Ability to grade
Ability to follow sequenced directions
Root Vegetable Matching
Age: 14 months-2 years
Steps:
Arrange a basket with matching sets of real root vegetables such as turnips, carrots, potatoes, etc.
Invite the child to work at a rug with you.
Say to the child, “Today, we are going to match root vegetables!”
Remove the first vegetable from the basket, taking time to carefully examine it. Hand it to the child to feel and examine himself.
Place this vegetable in the top left corner of the rug.
Remove the rest of each type of vegetable and place underneath the previous in a neat column.
Once all of each type of vegetable have been removed from the basket, select one of the matches. After examining this vegetable and handing it to the child to examine as well, place it to the right of the one it matches.
After finding several matches, invite the child to match the rest as he seems ready.
Once all of the vegetables have been placed with their matches carefully place them back in the basket one at a time.
Purpose:
Visual discrimination
Development of vocabulary
Development of concentration
Apple Printing
Age: 14 months-3 years
Steps:
Arrange a tray with a styrofoam plate, a bottle of paint or cup pre-prepared with paint, an apple, a child-safe vegetable cutter, a cutting board, and a piece of paper.
Invite the child to work with you at a table.
Place the cutting board in front of you and the child and place the apple on top.
Pick up the vegetable cutter, being sure to point out to the child that it is sharp and can be dangerous, so it should be handled extra carefully!
Hold the apple in your left hand and place the vegetable cutter in your right hand (assuming you and the child are right-handed) and press down on the vegetable cutter in the middle of the apple so as to cut it in half.
Place the vegetable cutter back on the tray and cutting board back onto the tray and place the piece of paper, styrofoam plate, and paint in front of you and the child.
Select the bottle or cup of paint and pour a small amount onto the styrofoam plate.
Pick up the apple and place on the paint, covering the white portion of the inside of the apple.
Then place the apple down on the sheet of paper to create an apple imprint.
Invite the child to have a turn with the other half of the apple as he shows readiness!
When finished creating apple imprints, invite the child to place his work on a drying rack to dry.
Take the apple and styrofoam plate to the trash.
Wash the vegetable cutter at the sink with the child and dry it before returning it to the tray.
Replace the styrofoam plate, a fresh piece of paper, and apple on the tray so it is ready for the next child.
Purpose:
Development of fine motor skills
Development of gross motor skills
Ability to follow sequenced directions
Appreciation and development of artistic skills
Hand-eye coordination
American Flag Toothpick
**Note: This lesson requires direct teacher supervision!
Age: 2 ½-5
Steps:
Assemble a tray with a styrofoam cube, and a bowl with American flag toothpicks.
Pick up a toothpick and say to the child “These are called toothpicks. The ends are pointy and very sharp so we have to be very careful with them so we don’t hurt ourselves!
Take the toothpick and press it firmly but slowly into the styrofoam.
Select another toothpick and do the same.
When the child is ready, invite him to have a turn!
Purpose:
Fine motor and pincer grip development
Indirect preparation for writing
Development of concentration
Hand-eye coordination
Tweezing Insects
Age: 1-4
Steps:
Prepare a tray with a bucket with soil, and plastic insects hidden, (be sure they are large enough to not pose a choking hazard!), tongs, and a small bowl.
Pick up tongs and slowly sift through soil until you find a hidden insect.
Squeeze tongs to pick up plastic insect. Place the insect in the small bowl.
After demonstrating a few, hand tongs to child to have a turn.
Purpose:
Strengthens pincer grip and fine motor skills
Development of concentration
Scooping Shells
Ages: 1 ½-3
Steps:
Arrange a tray with a bucket of water with a few shells inside (making sure they are not small enough to pose a choking hazard), an empty small bowl, and a spoon (may have holes like a colander or not.
Invite the child to work with you at a table.
Pick up the spoon with your right hand and place it into the bucket of water and shells. Bring the spoon towards you and scoop out a shell.
Place the shell gently inside the empty bowl using the spoon.
Continue on until all the shells have been scooped out of the bucket.
Use the spoon to place the shells back into the bucket of water.
Invite the child to have a turn.
Purpose:
Care of self
Develops fine motor skills, including a strong pincer grip
Development of concentration
Shamrock Coin Put and Take
Ages: 13 months-2 years
Steps:
1. Assemble a tray with a jar with plastic lid and small slit in the top and a small bowl with large St. Patrick’s Day coins (big enough to not pose choking hazard).
2. Invite the child to work at a table.
3. Pick up one coin from small bowl using pincer grasp.
4. Carefully drop coin into slit in top of jar, pausing to listen to the sound as the coin drops in.
5. Continue on in same manner until all coins have been placed in jar.
6. Slowly remove lid off can.
7. Remove coins, placing back in small bowl one at a time.
8. Replace lid back on top of jar.
9. Invite the child to have a turn.
Purpose:
Hand-eye coordination
Fine and gross motor skill development
Focus and concentration
Development of pincer grip
Cutting Pine Needles
Age: 14 Months-4 years
Steps:
Assemble a tray with one bowl, a small basket with small clipped pine tree branches, and a pair of child scissors.
Pick up scissors and point out to child how to hold correctly with your thumb in one side and fingers in the other.
Pick up a branch in the other hand and slowly, carefully demonstrate for the child how to cut the needles over the bowl on the tray.
After you have cut some needles, place the scissors down and pick up the bowl, pointing out to the child the smell the pine needles make!
Invite the child to have a turn.
Purpose:
Stimulates sense of smell
Fine motor development
Concentration and focus
Decorating Gingerbread Men
Ages: 13 months-5 years
Steps:
Assemble a tray with cut out Gingerbread Men (may be made out of sandpaper for an added Sensorial appeal), googly eyes, glue, red and green pom poms, and orange smiles cut out from construction paper.
Invite the child to a table and select a Gingerbread Man.
Ask the child what the Gingerbread Man is missing on his face! Pick out two googly eyes, put glue on the back of each, and place on the Gingerbread Man’s face for his eyes.
Select an orange smile, put glue on the back, and attach for the mouth.
Select a few pom poms, apply glue, and attach to the Gingerbread Man’s stomach.
Invite the child to make his own!
Purpose:
Hand-eye coordination
Fine motor skills
Focus and concentration
Language Development talking about parts of the body
Tweezing Indian Corn
Ages: 16 months-4 years
Steps:
Arrange a tray with an ear of Indian corn, a pair of tweezers, and one small bowl.
If the child is right handed, sit on their right side. Pick up the tweezers, pausing to show the child the correct way to hold them. Say “this is how we hold tweezers.”
Pick up the ear of corn in your non-dominant hand, and use the other hand to slowly remove a kernel of corn on the top, left side of the ear of corn, using the tweezers. Place the corn into the small bowl on the tray.
Continue on demonstrating for the child how to tweeze the corn, moving slowly and carefully left to right, so the child mimics your graceful movements and control.
Invite the child to have a turn.
Purpose:
Develops pincer grip and fine motor skills
Focus and concentration
Prepares for future writing and reading as presentation is done left to right
Fall Nature Sorting
Ages 14 months-4 years
Steps:
Assemble a Sorting Tray with pumpkin seeds, acorns, leaves, and twigs in the center. (If you can go for a Nature Walk outside with your class beforehand to collect these items, even better!)
Invite the child to a table and bring the Sorting tray with Fall items in the center.
Carefully select an item from the middle, taking time to explore it with your hands and eyes, before handing it to the child to marvel at.
When the child is ready she should hand the item back and you will place it in one of the sections on the outer edge of the tray.
Pick up a different item from the center and repeat the above step, this time placing this item in a seperate section of the tray.
Continue on sorting the items that are the same into the same section.
Once you have sorted all of the items, place them one at a time back in the center of the tray and invite the child to have a turn.
Purpose:
Develops visual discrimination and ability to classify
Appreciation of nature
Focus and attention span
Following sequenced directions
Leaf Imprints
Age: 16 months-4 years
Steps:
Take children outside to collect different leaves, flowers, grass, etc. in a basket.
Assemble a tray with a plastic mat, play dough or clay, and the basket of gathings from outside.
Knead playdough onto plastic mat to make a flat surface.
Choose one item from the basket and gently press it into the playdough or clay.
Pick the leaf up from the clay and examine the imprint left.
Place leaf back into the basket, and invite the child to have a turn.
Purpose:
Develops fine motor skills
Develops visual discrimination
Attention to detail
Appreciation of nature/environment
Bobbing for Apples
Ages: 16 months-3 years
Steps:
1. Prepare a tray with a large bowl full of water, a basket filled with apples, (real or artificial, depending on age of children), a set of tongs, and a towel.
2. Pick up tongs and model for the child how to hold them, slowly opening and closing for them to see.
3. Slowly demonstrate picking up an apple with tongs from the basket and gently place the apple in the water-filled bowl.
4. Transfer all the apples from the basket to the bowl with water one at a time.
5. After all the apples are in the water, transfer them back to the basket one at a time and invite the child to have a turn.
6. Use the towel to dry the tongs and each of the apples one at a time, and return the lesson to the shelf.
Purpose:
1. Strengthens fine motor skills
2. Hand-eye coordination
3. Develops attention span
Water Spooning
Ages: 2 ½-5
Steps:
1. Prepare a tray with two bowls of the same size, another bowl with plastic stars (or other object that will float), a pitcher, a spoon, and a towel.
2. Teacher and child don aprons
3. Take the pitcher from the tray and fill with water.
4. Pour some water into the bowl on the left side of the tray, then the right.
5. Use the spoon to gently spoon the objects into the bowl on the left side of the tray.
6. Once all the objects are in the left bowl, use the spoon to slowly and carefully transfer one object at a time to the bowl on the right.
7. Once all the objects have been transferred to the bowl on the right, turn the tray so the child may start from the left hand side and allow them to have a turn.
8. After the child has practiced, show them how to return the objects to their original bowl using the spoon one at a time.
9. Pour water from the bowls into the pitcher and pour the water from the pitcher into the sink.
10. Use the towel to dry the inside of all the bowls and the outside and dry the pitcher as well.
11. Return the tray to the shelf.
Purpose:
1. Develops fine motor control
2. Hand-eye coordination
3. Attention span and concentration
4. Develops ability to follow sequenced directions
Sorting Shells
15 months - 4 years
Steps:
Collect an assortment of shells. Some should have similar attributes (color, shape, size) that they can be identified and discriminated by
Arrange shells in a basket and invite the child to a rug
Retrieve one shell from the basket and carefully examine it before handing it to the child to do the same. Place on left side of rug.
Select a shell with a different identifying attribute and examine as before, allowing child to do the same and place to the right of previous shell.
Continue on in this manner, placing shells that have matching attributes together in a group
Once all the shells are sorted by size, color, or shape, gently replace the, one at a time to the basket and invite the child to complete the lesson by himself.
Another day, sort the shells by a different identifier.
Purpose:
Develops visual discrimination and ability to classify
Develops concentration
Attention to detail
Fine motor and pincer grip essential later for pencil grip
Stimulating interest and appreciation for nature
Easter Egg Matching
Age: 16 months-3
Purpose:
Practice matching colors
Develops fine motor skills by pulling apart and fitting eggs back together.
Develops attention and ability to sequence and follow directions.
Steps:
Arrange a basket with 6-8 Plastic Easter eggs, each opened so the halves are placed face down in a circle.
Demonstrate to the child (with as few words as possible), one color at a time, how to place back together each top half with its matching-colored bottom.
Tonging Easter Eggs
Age: 16 months-3
Purpose:
Develops fine motor skills and strengthens the muscles in the hand for future tasks such as holding a pencil.
Develops focus, concentration, and ability to follow directions.
Steps:
Arrange a tray with an egg carton with six Easter eggs in the top row as well as a pair of tongs.
Demonstrate to the child how to hold the tongs and slowly, carefully pick up the first egg in the top left corner and place it gently in the bottom left corner of the egg carton.
Do the same with the next egg and so on.
Return the eggs one at a time from left to right back to the top half of the carton.
To add interest for the child and help slow his movements you may wish to indicate how the eggs are making no noise as you place them carefully in their spot and challenge the child to see how quietly they can do it!
