Last week Kale came down with a really terrible flu. We kept him home from school most of the week and took it easy. We did have several instances where he thought he was feeling better and started running around and playing and then we learned the hard way that he was still pretty sick (read: he threw up all over us. Twice.). So for this weeks activity, I was looking for something that would keep him calm and focused.
Activity: threading beads
Age: 20 months
Materials: pipe cleaners, wooden beads, bowl, tray
Purpose: development of fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, development of patience and concentration
I've seen a few beading kits for 3+ (like this one and this one), which I think will be great down the road when Kale is more into sorting and can handle the string. To avoid frustration, I thought you would be able to better handle putting beads on a pipe cleaner and it worked great!
Kale really focused hard on getting each bead on and was thrilled when he was able to slip the pipe cleaner into the bead. I love to watching his reaction and seeing how proud he is of himself.
As he gets older, we can paint the beads and try sorting them on different pipe cleaners and use them for counting exercises. We'll also try string as his fine motor skills improve.
Does anyone have any other good idea's for working with beads and threading for this age group? I'd love to hear some suggestions!
Check out other great idea's by clicking on the button below:
I just today was with Eli at an evaluation for sensory integration issues. There he was asked to string beads and he was pretty fascinated by it, but the string was too difficult for him to manipulate. I hadn't realized this was an activity to do with kids this young, but seeing how interested he was in it I was thinking in the car how to make this an activity for him at home. Then once home, I put him down for a nap, came to the computer and find your solution to my "problem"! That's pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteThat's great that Eli was really interested in the beading activity! The pipe cleaner worked great with Kale, although we did have to show him to hold it closer to where he wanted to put the bead so that it wouldn't bend out of control on him. Let me know how it works with Eli!
DeleteI really like reading your Montessori posts. Tristan is 2 and since we can't afford to send him to a Montessori school and there's none within like a 2 hours distance, I like to try the activities with him. He's getting better at his shapes. He prefers to stack all his blocks of the same shape together and then today we've been sorting his wooden shapes into their proper spots :).
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Karen! I guess we're really lucky that we have three Montessori programs in our small city (although only one is an actual school that goes to grade 8). It is so expensive though. I highly doubt we'll be able to continue sending Kale to Montessori if we have more children. However, we'll continue to do Montessori-inspired activities at home - just like you're doing with Tristan. Thanks for stopping by!
Deletewhat a great idea! i love how you used the pipe cleaner....still providing the right amount of challenge to the task but not making it so difficult that poor Kale would feel discouraged.
ReplyDeleteThese montessori posts are quickly becoming my favorite! especially since baby J is going to follow in Kale's footsteps with the Montessori schools :)
Thanks Ana! I'm looking forward to hearing about baby J's experience in Montessori! I would have loved to start Kale earlier, but 18 months is the earliest our programs start here (although we were lucky and got Kale in at 16 months). There are so many Montessori-inspired activities for young ones that really support their development at such a critical age!
DeleteGreat idea to use a pipe cleaner, Randalin! And your photos are lovely! Thanks so much for linking up with Montessori Monday. I featured your post at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LivingMontessoriNow
ReplyDeleteI did a similar activity with my 18.5 month old except we used tube pasta and cut up straws. She loved it. I will have to try it with beads. I made a loop at one end of the pipe cleaner so that the pasta wouldn't come off the end.
ReplyDeleteWe had just tried string and beads - it was a little tough for our daughter. This is brilliant. Thank you.
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