DIY Wooden Montessori

I'm compiling a few wooden DIY's I put together recently.

These require minimum skills, and if you have a great scrap wood pile (like us), it will cost you little to nothing to make.

 

Simple block of wood and a screwdriver.

 

I made three different blocks with three different types of screws.

 

Braiding Block.

Drill one hole, thread and knot three pieces of rope.

 

Nuts and bolts sorting block

 

Nuts and bolt single block

 

Threading stick

 

A simple sanding tray

 

 

 

A simple balance beam ... or is it? 

Using the balance beam as a ramp for cars.

Here is a different form of "balance" beam.

(My kids also think it's a see saw.)

 

Enjoy! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exploring Sense of Smell with Baby

The other morning, a sweet smell of orange filled our kitchen as my almost 3 yr old peeled some mandarins. I gathered some peelings, put them into clear salt & pepper shakers and let my almost 5 month old explore her senses....

 

I love observing babies as they explore new items in the environment.

She focused so intently on the orange peels.

She explored with her mouth, hands, eyes and nose.

So simple, and beautiful to watch.

Baby Fabric Basket - a Tactile Experience

For simplicity, I gathered light colored fabrics with very different textures from around the house.
 

Baskets provide the opportunity to sit and play, which is a new skill for her.

I love the surprised look on her face ... 

She seemed to enjoy the netted material as she'd continually return to this one after exploring others. 

Feeling tulle against her face and mouth.

Here she is feeling a silky fabric with her feet.

From newborn through the time my daughter was unable to sit and play, we'd explore her sense of touch with different objects on her cheeks, hands and belly (i.e: feathers, soft blanket, warm washcloth, cool washcloth on the cheek, and massage lotion).

Last Week was Nuts!

This nut cracking activity was inspired by trips to The Barber Shop with my son. His favorite part is cracking and eating peanuts.

 

Learning names of nuts with three part lessons:

1. This is a brazil; this is a chestnut; this is a pecan.

2. Where is the chestnut? Put the brazil on top of your head. Shake the pecan.

3. What is the name of this nut? 

More learning with almonds, pistachios, and walnuts:

Spooning/sorting:

My son opening and eating his peanuts:

He really likes the wooden nut cracker.

"This hazelnut is hard to crack open."

"I'll try it!"

LOL :)

 

Opening and eating pistachios (her favorite):

Trying the metal nutcracker:

The kids have been revisiting this activity for two weeks.

What a great fall activity!

 

Montessori-Inspired Baby Gym (An IKEA Hack)

On a budget, I purchased the LEKA Baby Gym from IKEA.

 It looked like this:

Here's what mine looks like now:

I removed all plastic pieces from the wood frame, donated the toys, and painted the red parts white.

I used a similar approach to IKEA for hanging my DIY'd toys. I found round wood slices at a craft store, drilled a hole in the middle and threaded my ribbon through.

 

My inspiration for toys came from a "Montessori Baby" search on Etsy. You can see the rest of our infant play space and DIY Montessori-inspired toys here.

Open and Close Treasure Box

I collected a few items that open and close in unique ways and put them into a box for my daughter (2.5 yrs).

A simple bottle with a screw top.

A pocket watch with a push-top.

She worked on this one with such determination when it was first introduced; and it seemed to be her favorite item in the box. Perhaps because it was such a challenge for her - she needed to figure out how to put her fingers just right on the sides in order to open it.  

A locket held together by magnets:

This one is tough for her - it helps to have a finger nail to open this one, so she really needs to use her finger and thumb strength. She's so focused when working on this one, and always so proud when it's open! 

A binder clip:

Strengthening those muscles in preparation for writing. She likes to squeeze this one as hard as she can to see how far she can open it - you know the kind of squeeze that makes your whole body shake - that's what she does here!

My son (4 yrs) also enjoys the binder clip in this box so he can show off his strength:

... I like how it's strengthening his pencil grip!

A frame that has a clasp similar to a coin purse closure.

She puts this up to her eyes upon opening and claims it's a pair of glasses. 

This locket has a little fold over clasp that hooks onto a little ball ... 

She needs to pick the locket with her little finger to pop it open.  

A small lock and key:

She likes the challenge of taking the key out and figuring out how to place it back in before opening.

Closing the lock is another challenge as it takes lining the hook up with the small hole, and takes some finger and thumb strength to lock it back into place.

Hope you enjoyed taking a look into my daughter's treasure box!

Currency: Sorting, Matching, Counting and More

Money Work at 2 Years:

 

Penny Transfer:

My daughter enjoys counting them as she transfers

 

Sorting Pennies and Dimes:

This is an absolute favorite of hers!

 

Object to Picture Matching

Penny and Dime Fronts and Backs:

Imagine Our Life's wonderful currency printables were found here.

 

 

 Money Work at 4 years:

 

Value Matching:

 

Bead Counting: 

 

Addition using Beads:

 

Hundred's Board:

10 dimes = $1.00

 

My son estimated 100 pennies and then filled his Hundred's Board: 

 

100 Pennies = $1.00

 

Currency with Teens Board:

My proud son mastered his Teens Board about 5 months ago. Once it was mastered, we moved to currency and began using it with money instead of beads.