children are able to develop at their maximum potential when they are provided with ample opportunities to freely and willingly partake in meaningful learning activities.
Hence it is the parent’s and educator’s responsibility to provide the child with age-appropriate learning activities to facilitate development and stimulate learning.
The Montessori Curriculum comprises all the aspects that cover the basic principles of development i.e., cognitive, social, physical, psychological, emotional, and physiological principles.
According to Dr. Maria Montessori gross motor and fine motor development play a significant role in early childhood education.
Hence, Practical life and motor activities play an important role in the education of the child.
The Montessori Method of education incorporates different physical activities, exercises, and kinesthetic activities to help facilitate the development of muscles and improve muscle memory in children.
Practical life Activities in Montessori are essential in facilitating cognitive and physical development in children from the earliest stages of development.
Furthermore, Practical Life Activities allow children to independently partake in self-care and hygiene activities.
If you as a parent or immediate caregiver want to incorporate Montessori Practical Life Activities into your child’s environment but are perplexed about where to begin, look no further.
Here is a complete guide to Montessori Practical Life Activities to help you facilitate optimum holistic development.
What are Montessori Practical Life Activities?
Montessori Practical activities are basic tasks that are initially introduced to children when the children reach Montessori Primary Level.
These activities are based on real-life lessons that help develop a sense of order, and self-reliance, independence and help the child develop vestibular strength as well as proprioception.
Montessori Practical Life activities are an integral part of the Montessori curriculum, which allows children to adjust to the new Primary Level environment.
By acknowledging the sensitive periods the practical activities promote coordination, independence, and the development of both fine motor skills as well as gross motor skills.
The Montessori Practical Life Activities rely on three key factors that help facilitate effective education:
Montessori Practical activities are basic tasks that are initially introduced to children when the children reach Montessori Primary Level.
These activities are based on real-life lessons that help develop a sense of order, and self-reliance, independence and help the child develop vestibular strength as well as proprioception.
Montessori Practical Life activities are an integral part of the Montessori curriculum, which allows children to adjust to the new Primary Level environment.
By acknowledging the sensitive periods the practical activities promote coordination, independence, and the development of both fine motor skills as well as gross motor skills.
The Montessori Practical Life Activities rely on three key factors that help facilitate effective education:
Purpose:
Each Montessori Practical Life Activity has a specific purpose and is designed to provide the child with a multisensory experience.
This predetermined purpose provides children with a sense of direction and guidance to familiarize them with the concrete purpose of the activity.
Movement:
Children while performing Montessori Practical Life activities have the autonomy of moving around and interacting with any material of their choice.
This form of open-ended autonomous play promotes the development of a self-imposed discipline that helps the child achieve greater perfection.
Intelligibility:
All the Practical Life activities in Montessori are curated to promote the development of foundational skills that build the child’s inner personality.
The activities should be easy to understand and will help the child achieve desirable outcomes.
Characteristics of Montessori Practical Life Activities:
Montessori practical life activities are purposeful activities and tasks that not only stimulate learning but also facilitate motor development and physical development.
Montessori Practical Life Activities help develop the qualities like coordination, independence, concentration, and inculcate a sense of responsibility in the child towards themselves, their belongings, the surrounding environment as well as their actions.
The characteristics of Montessori Practical Life Activities are:
- Reality
- Limitless Learning
- Individual Materials
- Self-Contained
- Grouping
- Child-Sized
- Cultural
- Functional
- Order
Types of Montessori Practical Activities:
Montessori Practical Life Activities provide children with multisensory experiences to promote optimum holistic development.
These activities are divided into different categories ranging from simple preliminary skills to social skills and skills to allow your child to become a well-rounded individual.
Preliminary Activities:
Preliminary activities in Montessori Practical Life Curriculum are the introductory practical life activities that act as transitional activities to acquaint the child with basic educational concepts and develop the requisite for formal learning.
Preliminary Practical Life activities are introduced to children when they enter the primary level.
These activities are great for facilitating the development of fine motor skills, three-finger pincer grip, and gross motor skills.
Preliminary Activities include:
- Work Mats
- Walking in a straight line
- Moving a chair
- Opening and closing containers
- Using Spoons
- Grasping and Transferring Activities
- Pouring and Transferring Activities
Self-Care and Hygiene:
Self-Care Practical Life activities are essential for providing children with tools to develop a sense of order, coordination, and self-imposed discipline.
With the help of Self-care activities allow children to not only learn basic tasks paramount to establishing their independence but also enjoy while willingly performing such tasks.
Furthermore, Montessori Self-care and Hygiene Practical life Activities help children reach age-appropriate developmental milestones and develop their motor skills.
Self-care and hygiene activities include:
- Hand washing
- Dressing frames
- Clothes Folding
- Lock and Keys
- Cleaning under their Nails
- Putting on a Coat
Care of Environment:
Taking care of the environment is a great way of a sense of responsibility and understanding of the world as well as its inhabitants.
Montessori Care of the environment practical life activities help children to become a contributing part of the surrounding environment.
These activities will promote children to take care of the home, classroom, school, and outdoor environment.
In fact, most care of the environment activities is an efficient way of developing the child’s fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and social and emotional skills. These Activities include:
- Cleaning a spill
- Using a Dustpan and a Brush
- Wet Mopping
- Setting up a Table
- Washing Dishes
- Taking care of Plants
Taking care of plants includes multiple activities that focus on plant care:
- Leaf polishing
- Cleaning leaves
- Watering plants
- Flower arrangements
- Leaf-cutting
- Taking care of Animals and Pets
- Washing Fruits and Vegetables
- Sewing
- Weaving and Knitting
Grace and Courtesy:
Social skills are as important as cognitive and physical skills that help children easily adapt to any new social environment.
With the help of Montessori Grace and Courtesy Lessons, children are acquainted with basic social and cultural etiquette as well as customs.
The activities depend upon the customs of the environment the child is living in.
Children get to learn how to:
- Get Someone’s Attention
- Greeting people
- Coughing and Sneezing
- Blowing a nose
- Helping others
- Serving food
- Learning how to say please, thank you, and sorry