Using a Sieve

Practical Life skills for children ages 3-6: Using a Sieve

The solids used in this lesson are cornmeal and barley. They work very well with this sieve, which came from Montessori Services. I also put a sponge on the tray (not shown) which is used for clean up.

Begin by pouring the barley into the bowl of cornmeal. Mix them together using the spoon.
*I must say, I was so glad to find a way to incorporate stirring. My daughter loves to stir, and wants to all the time when she is in the kitchen with me. However, she could definitely use some practice.

Spoon a small amount into the sieve. Point of interest: Making sure to demonstrate holding the sieve over the bowl.

I initially presented the use of the sieve by gently shaking it side to side. However, my daughter ended up shaking it more up and down. I found, the easiest way for the child is to have the dominate hand hold the sieve, and gently tap the sieve against the other hand over the bowl. The cornmeal and barley separate.

Using the sieve, slowly pour the barley back into the other bowl. Control of Error: The barley and cornmeal will be separate and the tray will be clean.

Bottles and Cork Stoppers

Bottles and Cork Stoppers- When I put this activity out, the corks are in the basket. Choose one cork and thoughtfully hold it over each bottle opening until a fit is found. Continue until all the corks are used. One point of interest for this activity (as well as for demonstrating an open/close lesson with twist caps) is to make sure to demonstrate with one hand holding the bottle on the tray or table, not in the air, when putting in or removing the stopper (or in other cases, twisting on/off a cap). My daughter (3 1/3 yrs.) enjoyed this lesson. Control of Error: The stopper will stick up too high if it is too large or the stopper will fall into the bottle if it is too small.

Transfer With Tongs and Traditional Montessori

This is a new lesson out this week. Sorting and Transferring With Tongs.

Tweezers would have also worked well, since the fruits have stems, but we are not yet ready for tweezers.

The Knobless Cylinders are a traditional Montessori work. They can be used vertically and horizontally and provide excellent visual discrimination practice and order.

The red cylinder at the very top provides a good challenge.

Toddler Water Transfer

This is a new activity I put together for my youngest daughter (17 months).


I found these little metal buckets at Walmart for a dollar. The activity stays on my daughter's shelf and I fill one bucket 1/2 full when she is ready to use it.

She wears her apron and uses the scoop to transfer the water from one bucket to the other. When she is finished we dump it into the bathtub and wipe up with the towel. She then puts the towel in the designated spot and gets a new one for the tray. She really enjoyed it and was very focused.


Recent Update Activity:

This one is very popular and has been on her shelf for awhile now, and she still loves it. With this set up she can scoop the water into the small bowl and then pour the small bowl into the bucket. It satisfies her need to scoop and pour.

Toddler Activities

I have been experimenting a bit with ideas for my youngest daughter, now 17 months.

I used clothespins and different sized dowels- length and width. The dowels fit into the container openings. The smallest opening (the salt shaker) requires one thin dowel, while the rest can take a changing number of dowels depending on the sizes chosen. This lesson uses eye-hand coordination and the pincer grip (the grip used for holding a pencil). My daughter enjoyed this activity.

Pouring is a lesson used in the 3-6 age group, however it should also be available to young toddlers. Pouring without handles was easier for my daughter than pouring with handles.

I used cereal because it is safe if she chooses to put it in her mouth. Everything in Montessori is usually done in 5 or 10's, so when it comes to choosing an amount I usually use 5- in this case I put in 5 pieces of cereal. She naturally picked them up and put them in the containers if she had a spill.

I also introduced this spooning cereal. A word of experience- only introduce one of these at a time, otherwise they will most likely get mixed together. To introduce the activity demonstrate slowly and carefully spooning one cereal from the left to the right.

My daughter surprised me with how well she did. I wasn't sure if it would be too difficult. Here she is using the spoon.

Now she has decided to pour. = )

And then use her hands =) I don't correct her because it could discourage her from trying again or using it at all as well as hurt her self confidence. I put this away when she was done (because we had the pouring out) but next time I will encourage the use of the spoon by simply demonstrating it again using the spoon.

Toddler Fill and Pour

This is an introduction in pouring. (Purposeful) pouring is a skill that a very young child can master if given lots of practice. Giving a child the opportunity to develop this skill will greatly increase their independence and self-confidence. As adults, we seem to take the act of pouring for granted, it looks simple enough. For the child to master pouring, they must develop the eye-hand coordination, hand muscle strength, and concentration. I plan to have lots of pouring activities for my daughter, with this being the first.

The toddler fills up the container.

It is poured out and the tray confines the objects to the space.

A Prepared Eating Environment For a Child

Child-sized table and chairs.

Tablecloth, place mats, and napkins.

An accessible drawer for dishes, utensils and the necessities.

Practical Life Food Lessons at Home

Food Lessons are an important part of the Montessori environment and fall under the Practical Life skills. Children start with simple lessons for preparing nutritious snacks like shelling nuts, cutting a banana or spreading butter on bread. Later and more complex lessons may include making lemonade, tea, or a sandwich (and many more). The lessons provide more than just a nutritious snack. In these food lessons, children learn and practice using kitchen tools, following a specific sequence, developing independence, coordination, hand muscle development, and completing the work cycle by cleaning up after.

I decided it was time to set up some food lessons for my daughter (almost 3 1/2 now). I found this little cupboard at Michael's. I really like the little lock, which the younger sister has not figured out how to open yet.

Inside, I have put together two food lessons. The top is Juicing An Orange and below is Grating Cheese. The tray on top is used to carry and contain all the materials needed.

This is how the tray looked just before starting. The half orange is kept in the mini-fridge (children's fridge) in our kitchen very close to the cupboard. The bowl holds the orange remains after juicing.

Here is my daughter Grating Cheese. The cheese is also kept in the mini-fridge.
Ideally, after the lesson the child washes the dishes, wipes the tray and returns everything to the shelf. I am still working on this part because our sink is not at her level. Right now, the tray and table can be wiped clean and everything returned to it's place, but the dirty dishes are put in the dishwasher.

These are our clean-up buckets. Red is for the table and blue is for the floor. I would love to hear what food lessons work well for other readers!!

Opening and Closing For Toddlers

Opening and Closing Activity For Toddlers
I just put this together after a quick look around the house. Opening and Closing (a traditional Montessori lesson) is great for young toddlers, too. I am always checking out stores and flea markets for new open/close items. I rotate the items every now and then.

Practice With Buttons

As part of the Practical Life activities in Montessori education, Dr. Montessori developed a set of Dressing Frames which are used in the classroom to teach dressing skills (such as buttoning, zipping, lacing...)

Although we have a set of frames in our Montessori room, I put this together in hopes that it might encourage a little more practice with buttoning. These are made from felt and were very quick to make.

After the child finds the matching color, the square with the button hole is placed directly over the button.

One side of the button is pushed into the button hole and then pulled out with the other hand.

The felt works nicely because there is no bulk from stitching around the button hole.

Using Measuring Spoons With Wax Paper

Before using this activity the child should be successful with pouring water into a single measuring spoon. (This lesson can be found in an earlier post)

This lesson allows the child to practice pouring into different sized measuring spoons and to see the different amounts from each spoon. I used a teaspoon, 1/2 teaspoon, and 1/4 teaspoon.

The child places the towel on the table and a square of wax paper over it. The child pours while holding the spoon over the bowl. When the measuring spoon is full, it is slowly and carefully emptied onto the wax paper.

The wax paper allows the water to maintain a form so that the child sees the amount. Each measuring spoon is used.


The child uses the sponge to clean up the water by gently pressing on each puddle and wiping. The wax paper is thrown away.

My daughter really enjoyed this lesson. She practiced so much that her wax paper was covered with the water bubbles. It was very interesting to see the water taking form on the paper.