Montessori trays

Pinay Homeschooler is a blog that shares homeschool and afterschool activity of kids from babies to elementary level.

We love to use play dough. We always have a play dough tray on our art shelves but our tray is often cluttered, full of cookie cutters, rolling pins, and other random items. Sometimes my child spends more time looking in the tray than playing with the play dough. So I was considering what a play dough tray looks like in Montessori environments. I've only seen play dough trays in Montessori toddler classrooms (18months-3yrs). The play dough trays I've seen present the play dough with only one…

I wonder where I fit in on Instagram. There are the accounts that have epically beautiful collections of wooden toys, and the accounts that have shelves lined with Montessori materials. I am neither. I am a dollar-store, vintage-hunting person who is more likely to keep the wooden tray and donate the toy, than the ... Read More about Montessori on a Budget

Are you looking for some fresh magnifying tray or activity ideas for your children? Here are ten that we've tried and enjoyed with my preschooler. Magnifying Glass with Matching Large and Small Cards - as this activity is new to us I've only put out three cards and they are really for observing. Later I will present all the cards and allow the child to match. This is so cute, my preschooler loves looking at the little images with the magnifying glass. Cards found here. Children's Binoculars…

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 Over the years I've written many posts about how we use our Montessori trays, from presenting snack to art materials. One of my most frequently asked questions is "Wh

I am always looking for new and interesting snack ideas for my children. In case you are too, here are eight snack and food prep trays that we've used recently. Jam on Pikelets - spreading strawberry jam onto pikelets. We often use crackers for spreading activities so it's nice to use pikelets for something different. Melon Balls - my three-year-old finds this difficult but it's worth the challenge. We use a small melon baller and some cocktail picks to make it easier to share. I've cut the…

This Montessori inspired activity is an introduction to sewing skills, helping children learn to use scissors to cut yarn and string. The set includes -a sturdy glass jar -plastic lid with hole -5 small balls of yarns -optional - child size scissors (5 inches, ambidextrous) (trays not included) The child pulls a length of yarn from the jar with their subdominant hand. Holding the scissors in their dominant hand, they snip a small piece of yarn. The yarn piece may be placed in a small bowl…

This holiday season really snuck up on me. Between sick kids and school work, I really just got around to organizing some Christmas-themed Montessori trays for Asher and Aiden. I had some leftover Christmas tray materials from last year when Asher was one, but I really wanted to pull together some new ideas as he’s ... Read More about Christmas Shelf Work for Toddlers and Infants

There are lots of good reasons to include items from nature in our art trays. Nature items have different textures and smells and provide a different experience to using paper or other stationary items. Using items from nature also: demonstrates resourcefulness - using what is readily available in the environment promotes creativity and out of the box thinking promotes learning about seasons and seasonality - what resources are available and when respects our natural environment leads to…

Pinay Homeschooler is a blog that shares homeschool and afterschool activity of kids from babies to elementary level.