Want to see some of the art and craft activities we've tried this week? These are all a little bit different. Pasting leaves and blowing colour bubbles could be enjoyed by toddlers (from around 18 months). While making stickers or using transfer paper is best suited to preschool children and could be enjoyed by children much older! Let's take a look! Leaf art - we've presented some collected leaves, paste, cardboard, scissors, and Look What I Did with a Leaf by Morteza E. Sohi (UK here)(worldwide here). We've used Look What I Did with a Leaf to inspire us and... Read more →
Sandpaper Letters are one of the most used Montessori materials in our home when my children are between the ages of three and five. Some children tire of them, but we still have them on our shelves, and Otto works with them periodically. It is important to say we do tons of practical life (including cooking, cleaning and handwork like sewing) and art (including playdough, clay and using scissors), so there are lots of other ways we assist our children in developing fine motor skills required for holding and controlling a pencil. We have used a few different variations of... Read more →
Over the last two years, I've attended felting workshops with a fantastic Steiner (Waldorf) educator. I've made a birthday crown, a placemat, seasonal mats and children's playthings. The crafting sessions have been for adults, but I keep on thinking about how much my children would love them too. So I've started to do some felting at home with Otto. We began with wet felting as it's easier to do with young children (than needle felting), and children often enjoy playing with water and soap. Today we made some Halloween decorations, but we could make Christmas decorations or even little toys... Read more →
We've been doing lots of Halloween-themed art activities this week. Here are eight activities we've tried. Most of these activities are suitable for children 3-5 years+. 1. Spider puppets - using cardboard spider cutouts, a rod and string. These could also be used for Halloween decorations. We could present these with paints or crayons, but here we've used markers. 2. Spider painting - I found some old cardboard spiders in our Halloween decorations, and I thought it would be fun to try some negative printing. We put the cardboard spider on the paper and then used a roller to paint... Read more →
Is your child easily frustrated by crayons? Often young children find pencils and crayons too hard, they require too much pressure to make a mark and the child fatigues easily and may give up in frustration. If your child doesn't like crayons or pencils, I suggest giving oil pastels a try. Oil pastels are rewarding; they make a mark with very little pressure, they are responsive, soft and smooth on the paper. Oil pastels come in a wide variety of colours, the colours are highly pigmented, vibrant and rich. They are affordable and easily accessible. Our local stationary shop has... Read more →
In the last couple of weeks, we've been focusing on drawing with oil pastels and creating with clay; however, every couple of days, I will also set up a new and interesting art tray. Some of these are just for fun, others are to help develop fine motor skills. Let's take a look at the last eight art activities we've tried! Salad spinner art - I cut some cardboard in a circle the same diameter as the bottom of our salad spinner. I presented this with some small squeeze paints (ours are from Kmart AU), the paints are small enough... Read more →
Grab your child and some clay. Today we are going outside to strengthen our hand muscles! It's been a while since I've shared a clay tray. When I've been studying, I've had little energy for messy play. Working with clay doesn't have to be messy, but it always has the potential to get messy and absolutely requires some emotional energy to wipe everything down. So if not today, save this idea for when you are ready. Or get your clay tray organised - so when the time is right, your tray is ready to go! I have three children and... Read more →
weather chart / movable animals / handwriting cards / animal lengths / insect tracing / read/draw/write I recommend following Marissa at Missy Montessori as she shares lots of classroom activities that can be used at home - without needing specific Montessori materials. Lots of her classroom ideas use printables from her online store. Many of these activities can also be DIYed, especially if you are good at illustration. Here are some of the Missy Montessori activities we've been using recently with our preschooler (4yrs). Weather Chart - we can use this every day as part of our daily rhythm or... Read more →
Do you have an interest in early childhood literacy or just love good children's books? As an aspiring children's librarian, I'm always looking for new and relevant children's books. As a parent, I'm looking for ways to engage my children with books and ways to extend the learning from those books through art. I've seen book subscriptions before, especially for babies and toddlers, but none have been like the BookieBundle Subscription (AU). This is our first subscription box and.. wow, I loved it. There is so much more to the subscription box than you initially see. It's not just for... Read more →
"Some objects are rapidly mass-produced by press or machine and are exactly alike. Others are made slowly by hand, and each is different from the other. The value of handmade objects is that each carries the individual imprint of the artist who created it." - Maria Montessori, The Child in the Family. Today is Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. ❄️ Making candles is a lovely way to celebrate Winter Solstice and it's also a fantastic warming, practical life activity. Part of this practical life activity is simply learning the process of how to make candles. We melt the wax,... Read more →
Today I'm sharing six art activities that we've tried recently. We have art shelves which are open to my preschooler, but these are specific activities presented on a tray for us to work on together. The first two are based on books, there are a few activities included that also involve some science!! Water Colour Painting with Drop - Have you read Drop: An Adventure through the Water Cycle by Emily Kate Moon? It's a fantastic picture book about the water cycle. The publisher recommends for 4-8yrs, but I'd recommend from 3 years+. I love that this activity combines reading,... Read more →
We've been doing a ton of art lately, more than cooking or other practical life activities. I love to pair a book and an art activity, this week we tried two art activities with Leo Lionni books! ❤️ Pairing the two helps to create a connection between the child and the book and it makes us look deeper into the story. Here are six art trays that we've enjoyed. Remember to follow your child including their interests, developmental needs and skill level. These activities don't need to be presented on a tray. We can put them on our art table... Read more →
My preschooler loves art. He loves getting his hands covered in paint and he's attracted to all kinds of brushes, stamps and printmaking. Here are six art trays that we've tried recently. Painting with a Spring Whisk. I found this spring whisk (similar) while out for a walk and immediately knew it would be fun for painting. The child can press the whisk down and it springs back up. It's good for printmaking and it's addictive! The child presses the spring whisk into the paint and then onto the paper. This was a huge hit and I'll remember to get... Read more →
I was really interested in trying some symmetry drawing with my preschooler. It looks like a fun way to teach children about symmetry and art. I initially downloaded these insect symmetry drawing cards but once I had them I could tell they were way too hard for my four-year-old. I made up some of my own cards by downloading basic images and removing half of the image. As this was the first time presenting this work to my child, I gave him a mirror to show him what the complete image would look like. This was really tricky work. Flowers,... Read more →
In Montessori classrooms and homes, children often use real materials, real glassware, real utensils, real knives, real hammers and saws. The children are in a prepared environment that includes caregivers who provide supervision and support. We ensure the children are given the skills to gradually over time use real materials in a safe and age-appropriate way. We may provide alternative or safer versions like a knife with a rounded tip - but it's still a real knife. I've previously used a real hot glue gun with my children at four years. I've closely supervised and no one has got hurt.... Read more →