ACTIVITIES – Page 2 – Mama The Explorer

ACTIVITIES, DIY / CRAFTS, PARENTING, SENSORIAL

MONTESSORI SENSORY ACTIVITY: SMELLING JARS/ BOTTLES

May 14, 2019 No Comments

We have many senses (five being the most commonly known ones, but there are at least 7, and in the Waldorf system, I was told there are so much more) – and they all serve different purposes. In Montessori education, refining of our senses is important because children shape their intelligence through their senses – visual, tactile, auditory, gustatory, and olfactory impressions help a lot with brain development. Vestibular and proprioception, senses related to balance and knowing our location and […]

ACTIVITIES, DIY / CRAFTS, PARENTING, PRINTABLES, SENSORIAL

PRINTABLE: BUTTERFLY MATCHING WORK

April 1, 2019 2 Comments

This butterfly matching work is pretty popular in Montessori communities. It’s such great work for young children – looking for the other half of the butterfly, or doing memory work. My son rarely touches the puzzle printables I introduce to him because he looks for that click store-bought puzzles make whenever he builds his puzzles. But the moment I showed this to him, he kept wanting to do it. We play our butterfly prints in two ways now that he’s […]

ACTIVITIES, PARENTING, SENSORIAL

BATHROOM ACTIVITIES FOR YOUNG CHILDREN

February 18, 2019 2 Comments

Do you have a young child who does a lot of delaying tactics or simply refuses when you say “It’s bathtime!”? Normally, it’s effective to tell a child beforehand about an event that’s about to take place. “Son, we will take a bath in 5 minutes.” Then, give a choice. “Would you like to take a bath in your bathroom, or Mama’s bathroom?” “Would you like to play first, or read while waiting?” “Would you like to choose which towel […]

ACTIVITIES, DIY / CRAFTS, PARENTING, SENSORIAL

DIY: I SPY / MATCHING/ SOUND GAME

February 15, 2019 No Comments

Jasmine of Three Minute Montessori shared her DIY I Spy/ Sound Game last January, and her post gave me an idea to make our own using what we have at home. WHAT I USED: * Reusable Water Bottle we don’t use * Our miniature animals (THIS and THIS, also available locally via The Parenting Emporium) * Beads HOW WE PLAY IT: * We simply shake and play I-spy. * I have a basket for one set (from the Wild set), […]

ACTIVITIES, DIY / CRAFTS, HOME, MOVEMENT, PARENTING

GROSS MOTOR MOVEMENT TOOL: YOUR GOOD, OLD LADDER

January 23, 2019 No Comments

Gross Motor Skills — I cannot even begin to stress how important it is to allow a child work on this (For a quick read on what they are and why they’re important, click THIS). By nature, they know. They know they need to move in all sorts of ways (from walking to running to skipping to moving side to side to…falling, yes falling!) so that they can acquire the skills necessary for their own development, and sometimes, as parents, […]

ACTIVITIES, DIY / CRAFTS, PARENTING, SENSORIAL

PRACTICAL LIFE: PIN POKING (BEGINNERS LEVEL)

January 15, 2019 2 Comments

Hello, friends! Today, I’m sharing a super quick, easy-to-do DIY pin poking work for your toddler. I came up with this idea because my 26-month-old loves working with my mom’s push pins at her house (she has a huge corkboard on the wall), so I thought maybe it’s time I let him work with pins. Before we start with the usual pinning work in Montessori classrooms, I thought of introducing this just to let him get used to working with […]

ACTIVITIES, PARENTING, PRACTICAL LIFE

MONTESSORI-FRIENDLY KITCHEN WORK FOR TODDLERS (WITHOUT COOKING OR CHOPPING)

January 13, 2019 No Comments

One of the first things people often notice about children who are from Montessori homes/schools is that generally, they are very comfortable in the kitchen. They do all sorts of things including actual baking and cooking at such a young age (young here being younger than the typical). In the Montessori community, this is definitely not about having a competition on who did it younger, but really a matter of respecting the child’s capability to do actual, purposeful work. I […]

ACTIVITIES, FINDS, STORES

WHERE TO BUY BOARDGAMES IN METRO MANILA (FOR YOUNG CHILDREN AND ADULTS)

January 5, 2019 No Comments

I’ve loved boardgames from the year I was introduced to Cranium. Maybe it’s not THE boardgame for hardcore gamers, but it is a fun game for everyone! From then on, I would constantly look at new boardgames, and unfortunately, they are not as popular here in the Philippines as they are in the US or other countries. It’s like a chicken and egg thing- we don’t get enough exposure here to really grow an interest, but there are also not […]

ACTIVITIES, DIY / CRAFTS, HOME, PARENTING, SENSORIAL

QUICK DIY: LIGHTBOX TABLE

December 14, 2018 No Comments

I’ve always wanted a lightbox table, but my husband hasn’t found time to make one. In the meantime, I brought our container from IKEA (that I bought with this DIY lightbox in mind) and did an easy, quick DIY lightbox table that we could bring with us anywhere anytime. MATERIALS NEEDED: Frosted Container/ Box (ours is from IKEA, you can check their containers for their Trofast/ Flisat line). You can also use glass if you’re comfortable with glass. A camping […]

ACTIVITIES, ART, DIY / CRAFTS, PARENTING, SENSORIAL

DIY COLOR GRADATION MATCHING WORK

December 11, 2018 No Comments

Gradation is a technique where colors gradually transition from one color to another, and as I encounter fixing color cards (or blocks, or anything!) from lightest to darkest, I begin to realize how hard it can really be sometimes – especially when the colors are too close to each other. This is one of the basic skills Montessorians heavily support – from the Gobbi mobile to the color tablets, and homemade activities like this one. My son is very familiar […]