Simple Montessori Activities for Spring

A new season is almost here! With the start of spring, most parents are looking to refresh their child’s toys or find new ideas for things to do around the house when getting out somewhere isn’t an option. Here are four easy activities you can do in spring with your toddler that require little to no preparation.

• Make Orange Juice

  Littles love to help out in the kitchen and this food prep activity is perfectly simple, though it can get a little sticky!

  All you need for this lesson is:

  Oranges

  Plastic or glass juicer

  Cups

  Paper towels or washcloth (for cleaning up messes)

  Start by gathering all of your needed materials, and invite your child to join you in making juice. Once you’re both ready to start, model how to cut the oranges safely. You can do this part for your child if they aren’t ready to use a child-safe knife yet. Next, slowly take the orange in your hands and show them how to squeeze it onto the juicer. If it feels natural, narrate the steps as you do them. Your child will likely be so focused on your actions that words may distract them, but of course do what’s right for you! When you are finished juicing the orange, pour the juice into a cup. Say to your child, “Now you can try making juice”. Guide them only as needed, and remember that it’s okay for them to spill or make mistakes. As they finish up with the process, allow them to repeat the activity as much as they would like to (within reason of course)! Thank them for making juice with you, and let them continue if they show interest.

• Read Books about Spring

  The easiest way to introduce a child to something new is to first read them a book about that subject. As the seasons change, start offering books that show pictures of the effects spring has on nature, animals that are more likely to appear, and holidays that occur in spring. In my classroom, I loved displaying books on the shelves that were relevant to the season to spark more curiosity in my students about how the world was changing around them. After looking at the new books, they would often ask questions about the pictures and we could extend the lessons on subjects they were naturally interested in. Reading books together about holidays gives them the opportunity to learn about other cultures and places in the world. If your child gets excited about a certain book you show them or read to them, keep it accessible for them to look at independently.

• Take a Nature Walk

  Here in Arizona, it’s plenty warm to take nature walks way before spring arrives, but this is still one of my all-time favorite activities! Getting outside and experiencing nature is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children. They learn so much from the natural environment. This walk can be as simple as just going outside and enjoying nature with your child. If you want to add something to it, try encouraging your little to use as many senses as possible! Children learn through their senses, and teaching them to tap in can be a great experience. When they find something, ask them questions about it, or just narrate your observations. “That’s such a beautiful flower. I hear the birds, too. The sun feels warm on my face.” Hearing your observations will encourage your little to use their senses as well.

• Flower Arranging

  This last activity requires a little more preparation and is recommended for toddlers three years old and up. Flower arranging can be done with either fabric or real flowers.

  First, as always, you’ll need to gather your materials:

  Flowers (artificial or real)

  Vase (glass or plastic)

  Scissors for trimming

  Just like in the orange juice lesson, after gathering the materials, invite your child to arrange the flowers with you. Model how to do it, and you can even trim the stems first if they aren’t ready for scissors yet. Show them that the flowers can be put into many different arrangements, and that there isn’t a right or wrong order to their creations. Let them explore the possibilities! When they indicate that they are finished, help them find a spot to display their work. Seeing their creation on display in your home will give them a boost in their confidence.

I hope you find theses activity ideas helpful and that you try them with your child! Feel free to share your favorite spring activities in the comments.

Applying Montessori to Every Day Life

When you decide to take the first step into Montessori style parenting, it can feel overwhelming. Is it time to completely change everything about how you’re raising your children? Should you get rid of all of their plastic toys? The short answer is no. Deciding to incorporate Montessori doesn’t mean throwing everything you know out the window. In fact, you’re probably already doing a lot of things already that can help you with this new outlook on raising your littles. Let’s talk about a few things you can do to apply Montessori to your every day life.

The first aspect you can incorporate is independence. In my opinion, this is the biggest step most parents need to take, but it can also be either the easiest or most difficult. As adults, we have a sense of time management and schedules that kids just don’t quite understand yet. They are on their own time. We’ve all had moments when we are just trying to leave the house to get to an event or even just go to the store and the toddler in our lives is insisting on putting on their own shoes. Your internal voice is screaming that you need to leave now. What we don’t tend to think about is how important it feels to your toddler that they are the one to put their shoes on. They want to be independent of you, and maybe even show you how big they are. Children have an intrinsic sense of self that they are in the stages of developing from birth. Allowing yourself to take a step back and not push your child to just let you do it for them shows them that you respect who they are as an individual.

With independence comes the need for patience. These two aspects go hand in hand. You need to remember that your child will make mistakes as they are learning, which usually includes breaking items, falling down, or spilling liquids. Natural consequences are a part of the Montessori learning process, which is why you’ll see glass containers and real items in Montessori learning environments. When I was a toddler teacher, I allowed my students to make mistakes, and show them how to deal with those natural consequences. If they spilled water while doing a pouring activity, they were given a cloth to wipe it up. If they broke a container, my co-teacher and I would demonstrate how to sweep it up. Of course, the safety of the children in the environment was the number one priority. We never asked a toddler to sweep up broken glass. We would discuss why it broke, and how they could prevent it next time. The same practice can be applied in your home. If your child drops something, don’t get upset with them. Instead, guide them and show them how to clean it up. Treat each “mistake” as a learning opportunity. Maria Montessori believed that children can learn so much from their natural environment.

My last piece of advice for applying Montessori to your every day life is to simply observe your child. Observation allows you to learn so much about who your child is and what they like to do. While they play independently, sit back and watch them. By doing this, you can see what their natural interests are and what they need extra help with. It’s a beautiful thing to see a child play without interruption. If you want to, take notes on what they do, and use them to plan activities. For instance, if your child keeps picking up their book about trucks, perhaps look into different activities that can build upon their interest in vehicles. You can extend the normal play by setting up a car wash for the toy vehicles after taking them outside to get dirty. Talk about what each truck’s job is to expand your little one’s vocabulary. Even if they aren’t talking yet, still narrate every part of the activity.

I hope you found this ideas helpful! If you need some more advice on how to get started, fill out my contact form and we can set up a free call to begin your Montessori journey!