Doilies For Decorating and Halloween

I was so happy to see the doily and embroidery hoop idea recently on the Maya*Made blog because we have a spot in our home that was in need of a little homemade wall art.


I found some doilies and embroidery hoops that matched in size. I decided to stain the hoops and used one coat of dark stain. After they were dry I put in the doilies and trimmed the extra along the edges.



This one looked so much like a spider web that I had to make a spider from some nature table findings and add him just in time for Halloween.

Drawing and (Trying) to Achieve a Correct Grasp

I was recently watching one of the Montessori videos by Margaret Humfray. In her lecture she talked about the fact that children should be taught the correct way to use any tool or material and that they should only use it if they can use it the correct way. Among these tools she includes pencils and anything else used for writing or drawing. The reason for only giving the tool to a child who can use it the correct way, she states, is because the child will develop a habit of using/holding the tool the incorrect way, which can cause difficulties later on and will even require the child to relearn how to use it. After a little internet searching, I found Margaret's statements to be relevant. School occupational therapists report incorrect pencil grasps as one of the most common problems they are consulted about. Listed as one reason for incorrect grasp is writing before the hand is developmentally ready for the activity. (Check out this website for a list of activities to promote readiness-many of which are used in the Montessori classroom.)


Right away I started watching my oldest daughter using her favorite writing tool: markers. Although she has beeswax block crayons and Lyra colored pencils, she usually will choose the markers if they are available. I have noticed in the past that sometimes she will use a tripod grasp when drawing and other times she uses a whole hand grasp, but I had not considered it related to the writing utensil she was using, until now.


The picture above and this picture demonstrate the grasp she uses with a fat Crayola marker. Neither of these grasps are correct and uses more fingers than the correct grasp.


This picture shows her grasp using a Melissa and Doug triangular crayon. This grasp is much closer to the correct "dynamic tripod" grasp. Although I have introduced holding a pencil with this grasp I didn't mention any of it for these pictures, I just invited her to draw with all of them so I could see the natural grasps. I was really surprised to see the grasps changed so frequently.


After thinking about all of this information I wondered: What is a parent to do? My children love drawing, I want them to develop this form of creativity but I don't want to be providing something they are not developmentally ready for and something that could in fact be creating a future obstacle. In Montessori education children draw letters and numbers they are learning in the sand. I wondered about using the sand tray for drawing. We tried it but for drawing purposes it didn't provide the creativity and I think we all felt it was limiting. For now will stick with the sand tray for letters and numbers.



For other options I checked online to see what is available. I have seen the crayon rocks before but never tried them. Something small, like the crayon rocks or small pieces of chalk would encourage a tripod grasp.



I am also interested in getting a pencil grip. They look like something that would really help.

In thinking about all this new information, I keep returning to a reader comment made in the post about letter reversal basically saying we sometimes give children " too much, too soon." I thought that was a very accurate statement. Writing this post has made me really look at what I am providing and if it is something I want to provide, how I can provide the most developmentally appropriate version of it.

Halloween Games

I have been working on putting together Halloween games for our church Halloween party. I thought I would post these for anyone having a party or just looking for some fun activities for Halloween day.



I call this the Trick or Treat Box. I have filled the inside of the box with poly-fil (white stuffing used for pillows or stuffed animals). I also added some "Treats" candy and chocolate, and some "Tricks" some fake insects, bat and snake, and rocks. The child reaches into the box and may pull out a trick or it may be a treat! Of course, each child will get to keep trying until they get a treat. To make this, I used a cardboard box and cut a hole in the top. I then covered it with an old crib sheet and stapled it on along the bottom. I cut a very small hole in the top of the sheet and ripped it into a slit big enough for the child's hand to fit.


Ghost Fishing. I painted a wooden cut out bat shape and drilled a hole in it to hang the magnet from.


The ghosts are made of felt with some stuffing for a head. A small magnet is hidden under the felt at the top of the head.


Pumpkin bowling. This idea comes from the Crafty Crow (link at side of blog). It is easy to make just using soda bottles and decorating with construction paper. I cut off the stem of the pumpkin so it won't get in the way. We will have two bowling lanes, one for older children and one for younger children.


Bean bag toss.

A few more activities will be a Mummy Wrap: Teams wrapping a person with toilet paper. The first team to use the whole roll wins. Also a Guess the Size of the Pumpkin: each person cuts a length of string they think will fit around the pumpkin exactly.

A Stereognostic Sense Lesson (and Your Questions)

The Stereognostic Sense


The development of the Stereognostic sense is an important part of the child's work in the Sensorial area. Just as important as any of the other of senses, the stereognostic sense allows the child to discriminate size and shape through the use of touch. Dr. Montessori wrote “When the hand and arm are moved about an object, an impression of movement is added to that touch. Such an impression is attributed to a special, sixth sense, which is called a muscular sense, and which permits many impressions to be stored in a “muscular memory”, which recalls movements that have been made." (The Discovery of the Child) The use of the stereognostic sense allows the child to have a mental picture through the use of touch and movement. Other activities that develop the use of the stereognostic sense include the mystery bag and stereognostic bag.



The stereognostic activities are first done with eyes open. Once the child knows how to feel the object in the hand and is familiar with it, the objects are then used with the blindfold. I introduced this to my oldest daughter with just two types of pasta. After the initial sorting with the use of vision, she watched me use the blindfold and sort the pasta. She then had a turn. For more of a challenge I will introduce another shape and later have four different shapes. Part of the challenge is also remembering which container it goes in (great for memory skills). Other sorting materials could be buttons, beans, or shells. The important aspect of this activity is that it must vary in size and shape.


Colored pasta is very simple to make. Add a few drops of food coloring and a few drops of rubbing alcohol to the pasta in a bag. Move it around a bit.


Let it air dry as soon as the coloring looks good. It will dry very quickly.

Montessori Material: The Tower (An Introduction)

The Montessori Tower is more commonly known as the Pink Tower. In Montessori classrooms it is traditionally a pink tower containing 10 cubes ranging in size from 1x1x1 centimeters to 10x10x10 centimeters. The objective of the activity is for the child to build the tower of graduated 3 dimensional size to develop an understanding of sequence and order. The tower belongs to the Sensorial materials area and is the second of the sensorial materials introduced in the classroom to a child.


We were spending some time today in our Montessori room when my (almost) 2 year old daughter found the Montessori Tower and wanted to use it. We set out the rug and carried the pieces one by one to the rug, setting them in random order. To demonstrate, I started stacking with the first and second block before she wanted to participate and together we made the tower with the 10 cubes. After this first introduction, I showed how to take each piece down one by one. She then went right to work starting all over again setting up the tower on her own.



I didn't introduce the tower to my oldest daughter until she was 2 3/4 years old. I hadn't planned on introducing it to my youngest daughter until she was 2 1/2, so she really surprised me with how easily she understood the task.


She absolutely loved making the tower and must have assembled it at least 5 times. Sometimes she mixed up two of the cube sequences but I did not correct it or say anything. The graduated sequence provides a visual control of error (way of knowing if it is correct or not) and so she will eventually notice a mistake and self correct it.


The smallest cube required significant concentration. I could see her concentrating to hold the little cube and focused so intently on placing it at the top of the tower.

*Often times children will enjoy the process of knocking down the tower instead of taking the pieces down one at a time. Montessori, herself, wrote about this and makes no objection to it. (I have found it is best to buy the unpainted version which won't show chipped paint.)

A Relation Between Letter Reversal and Toys

In today's toy market, toy makers try to encourage parents to buy "educational" toys for their young children. Often times parents may choose a toy because it has lettering or numbering in hopes that early exposure will benefit their child. Margaret Homfray, a Montessori educator, spoke about an exisiting relationship she sees between many of these "educational toys" and the problem of letter reversal among children.



Margaret states that these toys with lettering actually can create more confusion for a young child then they do providing a learning experience.





Using these types of toys allows the child to become too accustom to seeing letters sideways, upside down and reversed to the point that they are unable to distinguish between correct positions, which can lead to letter reversal in writing.





So, what is the best way to have letters available to a child? Margaret states that a parent would be better off having the letters written beautifully in a fixed position where the child can see them modeled the correct way.



(The link to the Margaret Homfray's videos are located at the side of this blog.)

An Indoor Sandbox and The Benefits of Sand Play

After some recent reading (and thinking about an upcoming winter) I really wanted to put together an indoor sandbox. The thought of 50 pounds of sand in my kitchen and two children with scoops and buckets, was, at first a little intimidating. Nonetheless, I felt that with the right set up and a little planning it just might work.


There are many benefits of sand play, the first being the development of the sense of touch through the texture of the sand. Sand play also develops the arm, wrist, and hand muscles, uses grasping and wrist control. It provides for creativity and imagination and is relaxing for the child. While playing with sand, a child also develops eye-hand coordination, experimentation with volume, weight, and measurement.


We have been using our indoor sandbox about twice a week. Each time we use it, my daughters play for up to an hour and they have really enjoyed it. I began by purchasing a plastic tub and lid. I drilled holes through the top, to allow air flow. We use a large blanket under the tub.


I gathered some cups, scoops, tools, sticks, rocks, etc. and keep them in a small tub.



Before we start I set up everything including the clean up area, which consists of a dish of water and 2 cloths next to the blanket. I have my daughters take off their socks so sand doesn't get tracked all over the house. There is one rule- everything stays in the sandbox. I stay with them the entire time.


When they are finished playing, I brush off their feet and clothes and one at a time, they rinse their hands to clean off the sand, dry them and then go to the bathroom to wash them with soap and water.


After they have washed and are in another room playing, I take the sand tools and dip them in the water and dry them off. They are put into the small tub.



I dump the water outside and shake the blanket off outside as well. I also do a quick sweep.



Everything is put away under our kitchen island.

Our Halloween Countdown

Ever since we set up the nature table for October, my daughter has been asking every morning if it is Halloween. To provide a visual of how many days remain, this spiky haired pumpkin is now our countdown to Halloween. Every night after dinner one toothpick is removed.


I drew a face with permanent marker. We then counted the days on the calendar to Halloween. Next, we counted the toothpicks and pushed the toothpicks into the pumpkin. (Because the pumpkin is very firm and requires hand strength, a younger child may need the adult to make the holes first.)

Montessori Informational Videos

Google has a series of videos featuring Margaret Homfray, a student and colleague of Dr. Montessori. The videos cover different Montessori lessons and materials as well as related Montessori topics. They can be found here. I will also be posting the link to the side of the blog.

A Color Wheel

We have been working on mixing colors since learning primary and secondary colors many months ago. (These post are found under the Art label.) I wanted a way for my daughter to keep using this skill in a practical way. We recently created our own color wheel to hang at the easel as a resource for mixing colors.


I introduced the idea of a color wheel using the color tablets. I asked my daughter to find the primary colors and then find the darkest of each. I arranged them.


She usually remembers what color pairs make the secondary colors and I asked her what mixing red and blue would make. She then found the darkest purple and added it.


We continued until we made a color wheel.


The next day, we painted a color wheel. First, my daughter painted the primary colors on the paper. Next, she mixed the colors and then painted them in.





I posted the color wheel at the easel as a reference for mixing colors. We now have only the primary colors at the easel and she mixes them if she wants secondary colors.

Activities With Leaves

We are using the magnifying glass to look at the leaves. We look at colors, markings, veins, points, and edges.




Also, I have laminated sets of leaves for matching the leaf before and after changing color.