Here's a quick pic of Little One washing the door to our classroom. So often the windows, mirrors and doors are covered with hand prints and mouth marks (mostly from Little One). Today I thought I'd ask for helpers to help me clean these surfaces; several of my young friends were more than thrilled to oblige me. Tomorrow I think we will scrub the chairs. Purposeful work is very satisfying, especially to this two year old.
Other practical life activities my busy boy is 'into' presently are:
Feeding the birds (this involves carrying a large bin of bird seed from one end of the classroom to the other...which is his favorite part of the process)we are very fortunate to have a bird feeder that is attached to the glass of one of our windows. Our classroom is on the second floor and the window is just above floor level, so the children can lay on their tummies to watch the hungry birds to enjoy our daily offering. More about this soon...
Pushing Pipe Cleaners Work
There are 55 holes in the top of this seasons shaker ($1.89 local discount store). There are 55 pipe cleaners (27 cut in half + 1 half) provided (various colors). Lots of concentration is required to stay with this activity to its completion, most often one child will begin it and many others will follow adding a few colors here and there(some not-yet-two friends will remove the pipe cleaners).
Happy Creating!
PEACE
MM
PS I hope all had a happy and safe Halloween.
6 comments:
I love the pipe cleaner holder idea...I'm going to look for a shaker like that! In fact, I might have a parmesan shaker that would work, but it's the glass kind with the metal screw-on lid. I'll have to prep them about being careful with the glass jar. My Little One just turned two and she would love this!
Where do you get these ideas? Do you come up with it or do you have a book you'd recommend?
Thanks Donna,
Yes, I do come up with many of these ideas myself. This is one of mine. However, I have had many amazing teachers and have read many books over the years that inspire me.
I'll post a list of my favorites soon. Thanks for the comment and great question.
PEACE
J
Hi Montessori Mama!
Thanks for your lovely comment on my blog :)
I'm going to be on the look-out for a shaker for the pipe-cleaners too, it's a great idea!
Amber
I just saw this over on 'itty bitty love', and I just put this together for my 2.5 year old, and she had a great time with it. We had to use a salt shaker though, that was what we had lying around, and the bead extention that 'itty bitty love' added. Fun!
oh my goodness, this is great!
You could use a clean plastic mayonnaise jar. Just drill holes in the top. I use them to sprinkle baking soda in the sink to clean but they would be perfect for this activity.
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