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Water Drops on Wax Paper

WaterDrops-6417

Sweet Pea is 39 months old.

From: I found this excellent activity at The Adventures of Bear.

Material:

Wax paper.
Permanent marker.
Eye dropper (We found ours at Micheals, but you could also use an old Children’s Tylenol bottle dropper.)
Small bowl.
Liquid water color or food coloring.
A piece of blank paper.
Smock (Optional.)
Jelly roll pan (Optional, but good for containing spills.)

Procedure: [...]

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Hole Punch

HolePunch-5044-2

Sweet Pea is 38 months old.

From: This is another very simple idea from Teach Mama.

Material:

Paper.
Hole Punch.

Procedure:

Show your tot how to carefully line up the piece of paper into the business end of the hole punch.
Demonstrate squeezing the handles together to punch the hole.
Next give your tot the hole punch and help him or her [...]

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Portioning Nuts

Nuts9

Sweet Pea is 37 months old.

From: I love these new Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds and I bought a huge tub of them from Sam’s Club.  However, if I let myself eat them straight out of the jar, I could devour my entire days worth of calories in one sitting.  Faced with such a temptation, [...]

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Fun with an Eye Dropper

EyeDropper4

Sweet Pea is 36 months old.

From: I saw this in a bunch of places (The Shafer Family, The Adventures of Bear, and My Montessori Journey) and really wanted to do it, but it took me a while to find the non-skid suction mats.

Material:

1 Mini non-skid bathtub suction mat. (I had a terrible time finding these, [...]

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Using a Funnel

Funnel7

Sweet Pea is 36 months old.

From: I spotted a funnel in my junk drawer and remembered that I had seen “Using a Funnel” on a list of practical life Montessori activities a while ago.

Material:

Funnel.
Sink.
A sturdy chair or step stool.  (If money is no object, then perhaps this beautiful Learning Tower.)
Measuring cup or small pitcher.
Empty water [...]

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Grinding Egg Shells

GrindingEggs4

Sweet Pea is 36 months old.

From: I was browsing through the Montessori Services website when I came across a Grinding Activity Set.  I though that Sweet Pea would love something like this and since it was right after Easter, I just happened to have a bunch of dyed, hard-boiled eggs in my fridge.   [...]

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Spreading Egg Salad with a Knife

Sweet Pea is 32 months old.

From: I know that spreading something with a knife is a common Montessori activity, but I am not sure where I first read about it.

Material:

Egg salad, cream cheese, jelly or any other food item that spreads easily.
A small bowl to contain the spreadable item.
Several crackers.
A small plate for the crackers.
Toddler [...]

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Sweet Pea is 31 months old.

From: This was created in a frazzled moment of  “I barely have time to feed us, much less do a Tot School activity, because I have way overextended myself this holiday season.”  This is a quick activity for those times when you are rushing around the kitchen  trying [...]

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Sweet Pea is 30 months old.

From: I found this activity in the book Basic Montessori: Learning Activities for Under-Fives by David Gettman, Teach Me To Do It Myself by Maja Pitamic and also on the exceptional Wonder Years blog.

Material:

2 small, equally-sized measuring cups or other spouted [...]

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Melissa & Doug - Cutting Food Box

Sweet Pea is 27 months old.

From: We bought this Melissa & Doug Cutting Food Box at a local toy store.

Observations: This set contains a wooden knife and cutting board, along with several painted wooden food items.  Each piece of food is composed of several sections that are held together with Velcro.   [...]

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