Soles Montessori Child Development

Little kids are capable of learning to master practical tasks like cutting veggies, making a simple sandwich, washing dishes, watering plants, and much more. Montessori classrooms focus on practical life skills to foster independence, confidence, and a sense of responsibility. It's amazing to see what our little ones are capable of!

This matching activity is Montessori science at work! By matching the figurines with the pictures, preschoolers have to notice subtle similarities and differences, like shape and color and match textures that they can feel with textures they can see. It's challenging, fun, and builds key skills & vocabulary.

Looking for a way to bring some calm to your little one's day? Who isn't! Try these ways to incorporate yoga into the day:
▶ Do animal yoga with stuffies! Lots of yoga poses are named after animals, like Downward Dog, Lion, and Cat/Cow. Have them find an animal in their stuffie collection and then do the same pose.
▶ Look up some simple yoga poses that kids can do (like Tree, Chair, Mountain, etc.) and write them on a beach ball. Toss the ball back and forth and do the pose that the catcher's hand lands closest to.
▶ Incorporate yoga into a favorite book. Read each page and then pick a pose to do that mimicks what the characters were doing.

Summer with kids can be hectic! As the dog days of summer wane, try these ideas to slow down and savor the season:
☀ Find instructions online to make ice cream in a bag - it's a tasty science experiment!
☀ Do an upcycled nature-inspired craft like making bird feeders out of empty milk cartons.
☀ Need to fill a rainy day? Create an indoor obstacle course and host a family Olympics.

Water play is one of the best parts of summer! Remember these important tips to keep your family safe around water, from the backyard, to the pool, to lakes and oceans.
🌊 Dress kids in bright colored swim attire and avoid blue swimsuits which can be hard for lifeguards to spot in the water. According to StopDrowingNow.org, the easiest swimsuit colors to spot in a pool are neon pink and orange, and the easiest to spot in natural bodies of water are neon orange, yellow, and lime green.
🌊 Empty all water play tables or kid pools immediately after use.
🌊 Always designate a "water watcher" - the adult that will vigilantly watch children in the water. Switch watchers every 15 minutes.
🌊 Even if your child knows how to swim, they should still wear a life jacket on a boat, dock, or when swimming in open water.

Summer is a magical time for little ones to explore, get dirty, and interact with the nature world around them. How are your kids exploring nature this summer?

Need a fun and tasty way to cool off in this crazy heat? Making popsicles! It's a perfect way to have your kids practice food prep and following directions. Try these ideas:
🍓 Blend ripe berries, stir the fruit into plain or flavored yogurt, and freeze in popsicle molds or ice trays
🥝 Slice up kiwis, oranges, or any other ripe fruit and place them in popsicle molds with fruit juice

Look at that fine motor technique! Preparing food is an important (and fun) activity in a Montessori classroom. Kids get to use new tools, use their hands in novel ways, and taste what they create!

With hot weather on the horizon, stock up on simple materials to keep your kids engaged indoors. Small droppers, some food coloring, and some cotton pads make a fun activity that lets them experiment with fine motor skills and color. 🌈

You may not think of flower arranging as a typical preschool lesson, but it is in a Montessori classroom. From snipping flower stems, to pouring water in a vase, to exploring beautiful colors, it's a fun activity that lets little ones practice fine motor skills.

Can you imagine all the great curious questions that are going through her brain? Sorting is a great (and simple!) activity that increases logical reasoning skills, vocabulary, and more. Here are some easy sorting activities you can do at home:
➡️ Sort toy animals or stuffies by characteristics like number of legs or sound they make
➡️ Sort fruits and veggies by color
➡️ Sort laundry by lights and darks, or sort crayons by color family

What sorting activities have you tried at home?

In Montessori classrooms, you're never too young to learn practical skills and contribute to the community. Little ones learn to set a table for a meal, clean up spills, wash dishes, prepare food, and more. It not only creates a sense of community, it also inspires self confidence.