Montessori is a method of education that is child-centred and seeks to explore scientific observations for kids from birth to adulthood. It has been in existence for over 100 years and in many parts of the globe. That is a sign that it has been highly adopted and parents have embraced it for their toddlers.
As a parent, seeing your kid learn the little fundamental things by themselves is great fun. It gives you that joy that you have an active child who is learning practical life activities, just like a typical toddler should. To take this heads on, you should be prepared early enough so that by the time they are hitting the self-realisation age, you will have everything set for them.
Here is a useful checklist on the Montessori activities you should explore for your toddler.
Practical Life Activities
Practical life activities form the basis of a child’s development. Some of the activities could include food preparation. This has to be the most favourite activity for most toddlers. For most girls, you will start seeing them at your kitchen door insisting on helping you with such tasks as pouring, mixing, and stirring ingredients.
Other practical life activities you might want to introduce to your toddlers include things such as the open and close basket. It is a beautiful development order, offers concentration, improves coordination, and gives them some sense of independence.
Additional practical life activities for toddlers include cleaning and care for the environment. The sooner you introduce such activities to the toddler the better. They instil some sense of responsibility when they start cleaning their tables, chairs, playing area, and stacking their play items.
Additional practical life activities include:
- Peeling and cutting bananas
- Pouring water on pavements
- Squeezing orange juice
- Cleaning the windows
- Watering plants
Fun Activities
For most toddlers, such activities as arranging flowers, balls, and other play items are much fun. Here, you could start with simple flower identification and arranging and challenge them to match the flowers with images. Balls and other play items could come in handy too, and the toddler can match the real object with a drawing or photo.
Regardless of the age, kids love pouring things. A toddler will spend a whole day fascinated about pouring water and would want to spend the entire week there. All kinds of pouring fascinate toddlers and range from rice to water draining.
Self-care Activities
Taking care of themselves is another activity you can indulge a toddler in to impart the skills in them early enough. This is an area you can emphasize on at home with ease and watch them take it as fun. It is a natural activity for all kids. Train and allow them to take charge of cleaning their hands, tying their shoes, and dressing and undressing.
When they realize they can do much of these activities by themselves, it reflects a sense of achievement and brings joy to them. It is a way of helping them achieve the image of human dignity as well as making them feel independent at an early age.
Studying the Environment
Toddlers are at a stage where they are wowed by new things. It makes them want to keep exploring their new environment every time they get something new or a new idea. You can involve them in sensory plays and animal habitats, reading animal stories, and other fun books.
The rule of the thumb is that toddlers like doing what the grownups are doing. They would also want to help with whatever they see you doing. They see it as fun even though for us we see them as engaging chores. Some of these ideas include:
- Helping with the laundry: – you can challenge the toddlers to bring things to the laundry basket. They can also help with putting clothes in the washing machine.
- Helping with breakfast: – this could work well if you let them prepare their breakfast. You can place a container with a scoop for them to use and serve their cereal. Add a small bowl with milk on the table and watch them make it on their own.
- Getting ready for visitors: – if you want a better time to instil a sense of independence and responsibility, this is the time. Challenge them to make the beds if you are expecting guests with kids their agemates. They can also help with getting towels for the guests, tidying their rooms up, and stacking play items away.
Conclusion
Even though most of these activities fit most toddlers, different kids have varied needs and capabilities. It is, therefore, important that you follow your child and identify their specific needs. Watch out for the activities that can attract and maintain their attention. Also, make sure to do away with the activities that you think are too hard or too easy for them. Also, these activities are encouraged for the home environment or when attending preschool.
