Sensorial exploration is one of the 5 key areas of study in Montessori classrooms. Maria Montessori believed that children learned best when allowed to explore the world through the use of their senses.
Sound jars are one of those traditional #montessori materials that can be easily recreated at home. Simply walk into your kitchen and you have the perfect recipe {ah, see what I did there (0=} for sound jars! Typically discarded materials like old spice jars, baby food jars, or medicine bottles make great DIY sound jars. Search your cupboards or pantry for beans, rice, popcorn kernels, salt, jelly beans, etc and you are ready to make Matching Sound jars! There are many benefits to doing sound jars with your child. The element of "masking" the material in each jar enables your child to isolate the sounds of each material and find its match within a set of jars. This fine-tuning hearing activity strengthens your child's abilities to isolate a sense when it is needed. It also teaches them characteristics of sound such as pitch, tone, and density. As with any Montessori activity, you want to provide a control of error (a self-correcting tool) which is why you see I used colored dot stickers to help S determine if her pairs matched once she finished the activity. I will mention, with a 2.5 year old, and lets be honest probably any age, the desire to match the stickers instead of shaking the jars to listen to the sounds will present itself. This will take several demonstrations by you and encouragement to try on their own and not use the stickers until they are done matching. Also, depending on your child's age and development, you will want to limit the amount of materials your present. For S, I only provided 3 matching pairs as to not overwhelm her. Later, I will introduce another 3 sound jars, apart from the first 3, to further sharpen her skills. Once she masters the activities, then I can combine all of the jars to offer a challenge. As for our first attempt at Matching Sound Jars, S was able to successfully match the sounds after a demonstration and a few tries of her own. I am looking forward to making more of these for her, including a similar version called Smelling Jars! She is always smelling the spices while I’m cooking. Are you wanting to try this activity with your child? Follow along with the steps below to make your own DIY Sound jars! DIY Sound Jars: Materials:
Instructions:
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EXPLORATION
Montessori focuses on the use of senses for development, especially focusing on nature as an ideal environment for sensory exploration. So we encourage outdoor play and exploration, as much as we can. When it it comes to exploring nature S has no fear, which is a great thing in theory, but this mama has to bite her tongue sometimes. She loves to observe, pick up, and touch any creature she sees. She definitely didn't get that from me, but I would never want to discourage her interest or love of something because of my own reservations or fears. When she does embark upon picking up small creatures I encourage her, ask her questions about what she’s noticing, or even offer her some information when I can. The Seek app by iNaturalist has been a great tool for us when we aren’t sure what something is. Check it out! #seekbyinat Look at the joy on her face as she explores the gentle crawl of the ladybug. We even found a yellow version in our flower pot later that day! 🐞 |
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September 2020
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