“We mistakenly believe that the ‘richest in toys’, ‘richest in help’ child can be the best developed. Instead the disordered multitude of objects, it is it that aggravates the soul of a new chaos, and oppresses it in discouragement. ” MONTESSORI IN OUR HOME: ACTIVITIES TO DO AT HOME WITH THE CHILDREN

Maria Montessori, “The discovery of the child”

Today we usually fill our children with toys of all kinds, which, however, do not always leave room for their imagination or creative spirit. Furthermore, we know very well that children get bored of the same games and here we make the mistake of always offering them new gifts and games, almost as if we were raising our children to “consumerism”.

Here we find again the Montessori method useful and functional, which states that entertaining children with concrete activities of daily life makes the play experience more captivating and surprising .

In this article, therefore, we want to offer you some small ideas for playful activities that you mothers can carry out at home with the children (activities up to 36 months). These are apparently trivial activities, which are actually isolated and analyzed with great care and attention, in order to allow the child to acquire new skills.

ACTIVITY OF PRACTICAL LIFE

• Getting dressed : one of the activities that children are very curious about is dressing alone, because in addition to doing fine motor skills, it allows them to put their imagination and skills into practice.
• Tidying clothes : the second step for this activity is to teach children to put their clothes in order, for example by offering them a small piece of furniture suitable for children.
• Grooming : this is another very important activity that can give life to the ritual before bedtime: the child at this stage can learn to wash his hands, face, use the toothbrush and blow his nose.

ACTIVITIES OF PREPARATION IN THE KITCHEN

• Transfer : provide your children with 2 bottles (possibly plastic) and a funnel, finally show them how the liquid is poured from one container to another so that they can also experience the activity.
• Fold : While you are about to set the table, you can give your children some napkins to fold. It will be fun to teach them different ways to experience their creativity.
• Dusting, washing and drying : before setting the table, give your little one a cloth to dust the table and then a damp sponge, you will see how carefully he will also experience this activity.
• Appliance : this is another very interesting activity for the child because it allows him to carry delicate objects (therefore also to train fine and non-fine motor skills), as well as to organize the table with care and imagination.

WE COOK AND EXPERIENCE TOGETHER

For activities in the kitchen we recommend a good organization of the environment, in order to eliminate all potential dangers for our child. There are two possibilities:

1. If the kitchen space is large enough, we can organize a small corner suitable for children, with everything you need at its height, starting from the table, chairs and small furniture where you can store various utensils.
2. If the space, on the other hand, is smaller, we can use the Learning Tower (which we talked about in a previous article) , a tower that will allow the child to work at the same height as the adult in total safety.

Now we just have to experiment with some of the classic activities in the kitchen, such as:

• knead (from about 14 months)
• peel a mandarin (from about 15 months)
• peel with a vegetable peeler (from about 18 months)
• cut cooked fruit and vegetables or soft cheeses (from 18 to 22 months approximately)
• to squeeze a mandarin (from about 22 months)

In these activities, don’t forget to describe aloud step by step what you are doing, inviting your child to do the same . Finally, at the end of each activity, show the child how to put the utensils in order and ask to return them to their place. Leave everything within reach of the “child” so that he can carry out the activity in full autonomy (if he wishes).

MONTESSORI ACTIVITIES IN THE GARDEN

If you live in the countryside, experiment with various outdoor activities, providing the child with all the tools necessary to work the land, such as: rake, shovel, watering can, gloves and boots.

Among the activities, you can experience:

• the collection of flowers and plants , such as basil, rosemary, daisies, to be able to grasp the different fragrances.
• The sowing of small seedlings , which will allow the child to witness their birth and development (a truly indescribable emotion). The work of sowing and care must be taught to the little ones and then left to manage directly to them.

Now you just have to get to work! Those described are just some of the many Montessori activities that can be carried out at home. The advice we give you is to take a look at Eve Herrmann’s boxes, where you can find the entire series dedicated to Montessori activities to do with your little one.