I’ve been recently been feeling inspired by Montessori type activities for young children.  In the past, I thought they were so easily integrated into daily life that it seemed artificial to do activities like this.  However, now I recognize that there’s space in our daily schedule to provide ds3 with activities like these.

I have several games/activities that I’m planning to make, but this was the first.  I took three different kind of beans, twenty of each type, and put them all in a small lidded container with a little scoop from formula.  Then I gave it to ds3 together with a mancala board, and let him sort each of the different kind of beans into different sections using the scoop.  The scoop adds another layer of challenge to using one’s hands.

This game is so, so simple but it’s amazing how long he spent playing with this!  When he finished sorting them all, he put them back in the lidded container, shook it up, and did it again several times.  I was able to clean the entire kitchen while listening to ds10 read a book out loud in Hebrew (the typical multitasking homeschooling mother!) while he stayed occupied with this.

Not only did he play with it in the morning, but he took it out later in the day as well.  Then ds5 came home from school and wanted to play at the same time, so I made a second identical set, and set the two of them down together at opposite ends of the mancala board to play simultaneously.  Even ds7 sat down for a game.

I used what I had on hand, which is why there were only three kinds of beans.  I’m planning to get two or three more kinds of beans, then add twenty of each of those to the mixture.  If I hadn’t had a mancala board, I would have used something like an ice cube tray, a sectioned tray, or given him three small containers to sort into. This activity is great for fine motor skills as well as sorting and organizing.

Avivah