Montessori Color Mixing

Nothing is more magical to a child than mixing together 2 colors to make a totally new color!

this easy DIY color mixing job costs VERY LITTLE, I bought everything I needed for it at Goodwill and the Dollar Store. 

• Materials:
• a WHITE tray with SMALL spaces (less water is needed)
• eyedropper
• food dye
• water
• plastic cups
• tray

I just let my nephew explore this job, learning on his own how to make the colors. But if you want to make it truly Montessori, consider making cards with a red dot and blue dot on the front, and a purple dot on the back, a red dot and a yellow dot on the front, and an orange dot on the back, etc. That way, the child can make the desired colors on their own without any help. 

Even without a lesson, my nephew caught on pretty fast. After making purple, green and orange, he experimented to make brown!

Studying Emotions

At the beginning of the year, I like one of my first lessons to be about EMOTIONS.



It helps so much to study emotions at the beginning of the year. Children, especially ones new to the classroom and even those who aren't, are going through a big transition and it helps them to be able to talk about how they are feeling. Leaving mom can be scary. Sleeping in a different classroom can be stressful. Sitting next to different friends can be nerve-wracking, and coming to a lesson with a teacher can be intimidating!

I hope that this ridiculously easy, CHEAP and fun DIY can help begin the conversation on the different emotions we experience and help make your classroom a calmer, more peaceful place. 

Materials:

• Markers
• Those Foam sheets from Michael's I love so much
• some sort of tray to hold them (I found this used tray at Goodwill, and I love that there are built in compartments to sort the eyes, nose and mouth)

• 

I made:

• one round orange circle for the face
• 5 different eyes (sad, happy, scared, mad and sleepy)
• 5 different mouths (sad, happy, scared, mad, and all teeth)
• 5 different noses (a clown nose, a regular nose, a nose with a mustache, a super long nose, super short nose)

You can add:

       EARS

        HAIR

     or ACCESSORIES

But because my tray only had 3 holding spots, I decided to keep it simple so that the child could focus on the EMOTIONS. I was afraid if i added too many extra elements, the child would be too distracted. 

Language to introduce in this lesson:

Sad

Happy

Scared

Mad

Sleepy

How do you look when you feel......

Owl Cards and Counters

My nephew is obsessed with owls!

We went to the library and got owl books, and he wants me to make up owl songs and he talks about owls all the time.

So, I decided to make him an owl cards and counters job to match his interest. As Montessori said, 

“Follow the child”

Making these was easy to do. All you need are:

·         9 toilet paper rolls

·         Feathers (1 blue, 2 red, 3 yellow, 4 green, 5 purple, 6 pink, 7 brown, 8 white, 9 black)

·         Markers

I pushed down the top  of the roll, decorated the owls, and there ya go!

 

IT’s important to remember 3 things:

1.ONLY HAVE AS MANY AS THE CHILD IS ABLE TO PAY ATTENTION TO!

 It’s a long lesson and it can be easy for the child to be overwhelmed. Start with only 3 or 4 in the beginning and work your way up.

2. PUT THE NUMBER IN RED!
This will ensure the child sees the number in the midst of the drawing of the owl

3. HAVE THE PROPER NUMBER OF EACH COLOR OF FEATHER!

This way the child can do the job WITHOUT you. That’s right! The whole point of Montessori materials is to correct the child naturally. This way, they are not discouraged when an adult constantly corrects them. When the material is made correctly, they learn by DOING and not by being told.