Outdoorsy Montessori: How To Design a Square Foot Garden With Children!

WHAT DOES A MONTESSORI CHILD DO WITH A SQUARE FOOT OF DIRT, METAL INSET PAPER, AND SOME SEEDS? 
DESIGN A BEAUTIFUL, EFFICIENT LITTLE FLOWER GARDEN, OF COURSE!

View Post

From the Montessori Music Room: "Hot Cross Buns" Song and Activities with Musical Tempo & Quarter Rest!

YOU MAY THINK THE "HOT CROSS BUNS SONG" IS REALLY SIMPLE UNTIL YOU SEE ALL THE WONDERFUL LEARNING  ACTIVITIES YOUR CHILDREN CAN ENJOY WITH THIS SONG! 

Recently, our Montessori music classes have been exploring the concept of "the rest" in music.

RHYTHM ECHOES

The quarter rest is the one that fits in with our echo rhythms. We have often practiced the rhythm:

"ta-ta-ta-sah" using the quiet sound of "sah" as the rest in the rhythm pattern. You can hear an example of our rhythm echoes HERE: Fun Videos at Magical Movement Company.

We placed our hands on our shoulders during the rest when echoing this rhythm pattern. This prepares the children for  placing their rhythm instruments on their shoulders when "playing" this rhythm later in the lesson.

During this lesson, we practiced resting our hands on our shoulders and not making any sound...so that it was like an actual quarter rest in music.

VISUALS TO PREPARE FOR THE MUSIC GAMES

Next, I showed the children a picture of fresh baked hot cross buns being taken out of the oven. I asked the children, "When the baker takes the hot cross buns out of the oven do you think they are freezing cold or hot?"

HOT, of course!

Photo by the artists at Dollar Photo Club

Then, we talked about how we sometimes blow on our food when it is a little too hot to eat. 

Photo by the artists at Dollar Photo Club

We pretended to hold a warm hot cross bun in our palms while we sang the "Hot Cross Buns" Song. 

We would blow on our "bun" during the quarter rest in the song:

This year, during the Spring/Easter season, I froze some hot cross buns so that I could bring them into the music room to show the children what hot cross buns actually are.

"HOT CROSS BUNS" MUSIC PROPS

I wanted the children to see real hot cross buns because I had made some music props that were hot cross buns made out of play dough so that we could do some fun music games with them. The children were fascinated that I had made them from play dough!

I used Crayola Model Magic to create several "hot cross buns" and let them dry out and harden over a week's time.

First, we passed these "props" around the circle in order to feel them and practice passing them in a clockwise direction. I told the children that next, our music game would be passing the hot cross buns quickly as if they were hot! The children like to use the music term, "Presto."

MUSICAL "HOT CROSS BUNS" HOT POTATO GAME

I played this recording of "Hot Cross Buns" in which the tempo accelerates (gradually gets faster and faster) and we passed the play dough hot cross buns quickly around the circle as if they were fresh out of the oven and hot!

n

Mp3 is available at Amazon: HERE

This activity is a challenge for Preschoolers, but they really enjoyed this game and we all ended up laughing and having a fun time!

Later, we played and sang the "Hot Cross Buns" Song while playing bells. During the rest in the song, we placed our bells on our shoulders and tried not to make any sound! This activity works best when the children have a bell in each hand so that they rest them on each shoulder.

Available at Amazon

This activity works really well with rhythm sticks as well.

Here are the ones I like best:

Available at Amazon

MONTESSORI-STYLE "SAND PAPER QUARTER REST"

A few weeks later, our music class featured the quarter rest again, and I brought in my "sandpaper quarter rest" for the children to trace. I made this one from adhesive backed boat decking from Home Depot.

THE QUARTER REST AND THE GLOCKENSPIEL

This time, the children played the rhythm of the "Hot Cross Buns" on the Glockenspiel. We created a little classroom "band" with several children playing these small Glockenspiels in the middle of the music circle. Once again, we rested the mallets on our shoulders during the quarter rest in the song.

Available at Amazon

The "Band" performed "Hot Cross Buns" this way:

• First, everyone SANG while the players PLAYED. We all had to remember to place our hands (or mallets) on our shoulders during the rests in the song.
• Next, we SAID the words while the players PLAYED.
• Then, we ALL KEPT THE RHYTHM of the song by PATTING our knees while the players PLAYED. (No singing...no saying, just playing!) Challenging, but sounded great!

As the children gain skills, I will introduce the "Mi-Re-Do" of the song first by singing these in place of the words, "Hot Cross Buns". Later, the older children can play the "Mi-Re-Do" on the Glockenspiel (E-D-C bars). 

MONTESSORI BELLS AND "HOT CROSS BUNS"

In the classroom, you can also use the Montessori bells for playing "Hot Cross Buns." I have brought the E,D, and C bells and 3 mallets to the music circle and then I have invited 3 children at a time to play the song on the bells. I point to each child when it is their turn to play.

This classic 3 note song is a wonderfully versatile children's musical experience. I hope you and your group can enjoy some of these activities at your Montessori music circle, too!

I've linked up again with Montessori Monday Link up. There you'll find lots of articles and resources from Montessori educators world wide.

I am no longer an Amazon Affiliate and I DO NOT receive compensations from Amazon or any other product vendors. The links to various products in this Blog are ones that I use myself and are for your own reference and convenience. 

View Post

Crafting Montessori: Color Coded Fabric Letters From an Etsy Shop!

HOW A MOM OF AN ACTIVE PRESCHOOLER DECIDED TO CREATE A NEW INCOME AT HER ETSY SHOP! 
Read more for a special discount at Hannah's Closet...

I am so excited to introduce you to my niece, Leah, and her Etsy Shop, "Hannah's Closet!"  Leah and I have been collaborating on some Montessori-style creations pictured in this post.

When I discovered Leah's shop that she opened in January of this year, I fell in love with her idea of fabric letters for little ones and her "very Montessori" crayon wallets. Her simple and lovely dresses are sweetly practical and my favorite of her creations is the pink John Deer tractor bibs!

I decided it would be fun to interview Leah and she was really enthusiastic about the idea!

Here's how a busy mom of an active Preschooler decided to put her creativity to work for her family.

*Can you provide me with a description of your business? I "own" an Etsy shop where I sell dresses for little girls, fabric alphabet letters, binky bibs and (as of recently) crayon wallets! I hope to add more variety of items just as soon as I can!
 *Why are you in business and what inspires you? I'm in business because I enjoy making and learning new things to make on my antique of a sewing machine! I was inspired by an acquaintance on Facebook. She made an outfit for her 3 daughters almost every night just so the girls would have something "new" to wear to school the next day. I was always terrified of the sewing machine.. it just moves so FAST and it was intimidating! Thanks to my late grandmother, I was able to sew by hand.. needle and thread! A week before Thanksgiving 2015, I bought fabric, 2 yards for $6.00! I had decided that I was going to make my 2 year old daughter a one-of-a-kind dress to wear Thanksgiving Day. It took me EIGHT hours to sew that dress by hand. I was so proud when people were asking where I bought it from! At that moment, I knew that her Christmas dress was going to be made quicker! Three hours and 6 YouTube videos later, I could operate the sewing machine! I made 5 Christmas dresses, 1 for Hannah and the others for friends' little girls. When I posted pictures on Facebook of the dresses, people starting offering to buy them!  And that's when I decided to open a shop on Etsy and name it Hannah's Closet! I've had 7 sales since opening in January and they said it could take months to get the first sale!
 *Do you know who your competitors are? Selling on Etsy I don't see anyone as a competitor. Every shop has unique items. I look to them more as inspiration to help me make my shop successful.
 *How do you market your business? How are people aware of your business? I market through promoting my listings within Etsy, Pinterest and "sharing" listings on social media. And, the biggest is by word-of-mouth. I offer discounts for returning customers and for certain dollar amounts spent within my shop.
 *Whom do you seek advice from for your business? From my peers. Family, friends and coworkers have been my biggest supporters!
 *What do you do with your profits? I have a full-time job and a three year old princess. The profits that I make from Etsy allow us to go out to eat, or spend a little more here or there than we normally would. She will be starting Pre-k soon so the money will start to come in handy when having to pay for tuition and uniforms!
 My shop is www.etsy.com/shop/HannahsCloset901 . The inventory is ever expanding, so make sure to check it out often!
 

Recently, Leah and I decided to collaborate on a special order that suited my Montessori view of learning. She loved the idea of color coding her fabric letters and she came up with an adorable set of red (consonant) and blue (vowel) fabric letters for her Montessori aunt (me!) Her choice of complementary dotted fabric gives these letters a sweet homespun look! And, they fit perfectly in this gingham mystery bag from Montessori Services.  Oops, when I checked, the gingham bags are no longer available (just solid colors), but there is a pretty mystery bag at 

Etsy: Cobbleworks.

LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES

This set of capital letters lends itself to a YOUNG CHILD putting the letters together to FORM HIS OR HER NAME. 

Leah is also working on a set of lower case Montessori-style fabric letters, too! I can't wait to have both sets available to my little grandchild when he enters the toddler stage.

FOR TODDLERS

I found a small size cloth basket that just fits the letters, and this would work well to put only the letters in your child's name in the basket. These cloth letters are big enough for young toddlers to manipulate safely. I think they are a GREAT ALTERNATIVE TO COMMERCIALLY PRODUCED PLASTIC OR WOODEN MONTESSORI LETTERS that aren't quite suitable for children who still put objects in their mouths. 

CONTROL OF ERROR

I really like that Leah's letters are colored on one side and they are all white felt on the backside. She says this is so that the child will see right away which side is the correct side. (built in "control of error)

INDIVIDUALIZED FOR EACH CHILD

Luckily, Leah does special orders and she can probably create whatever you may want for your child/ren. I would recommend ordering the extra letters you would need for your child's name. (Ex: "Hannah" would need an extra "h", an extra "a", and an extra "n".)

MYSTERY BAG GAME

Younger Children: For a quick and fun game, just close up the letters in the drawstring bag and then have your child reach in and take one out. Then, s/he can say the name of the letter and the sound it makes.  

Older Children: Decide on a few letters and then put them in the bag and see if the child can guess which letter they are taking out just by the way it feels inside the bag. Don't forget to take a turn yourself!

I ordered Leah's magnetized letters that have a magnet sewn in the fabric. They work well with this magnetic white board. 

WRITING ACTIVITIES

I requested a matching crayon wallet to go with the Montessori style letters. Then, a Preschool aged child can have the whole set-up for making his or her name with the fabric letters, then writing their name in their writing journal with the red and blue crayons.

ONE-TO-ONE CORRESPONDENCE

and FINE MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

I really love the idea of crayon (or marker) wallets, since there are compartments for each crayon. Taking out and putting in crayons, gives the  child  practice in one-to-one correspondence as well as exercising the small muscles of the hand. 

PUTTING "THE WORK" AWAY

Then, there's the rolling up of the wallet...a favorite activity of Montessori children. They LOVE rolling up work rugs, mats, napkins, etc! This little crayon wallet is a fun way to tidy up and store crayons.

There is a pretty yellow ribbon attached to the  crayon wallet that is used to tie the wallet up when closing it. I decided to braid the ribbon around an elastic hair band so that the youngest children could simply slide the elastic around the crayon wallet by themselves.

To my delight, the fabric letters, the crayon wallet, and the small size drawing pad all fit nicely in the pretty drawstring bag so that it could all be carried along on little excursions.

Leah also made a custom crayon wallet with some beautiful music note fabric and I put it to use with the magnetic white board again.

MUSIC NOTATION ACTIVITIES

This time, I filled the crayon wallet with washable markers. Then I used a long ruler to draw five lines on the whiteboard for creating a music staff.

Next, the child can draw colorful music notes on the lines of the music staff.

Be sure to use washable markers (as opposed to permanent markers) on the whiteboard so that you can wipe them away with a damp cloth.

LEAH IS OFFERING A SPECIAL JUST FOR YOU ALL WHO HAPPENED TO READ ABOUT HER SHOP AT MY BLOG!

Leah's special offer until May 16th:

• 15% off all items UNTIL May 16th
• Go to her shop: Hannah's Closet
• Use code: MONTESSORI
• Have fun shopping!

This post is part of the wonderful Montessori Monday Link-up at Living Montessori Now. Click here to check out more posts from Montessori educators all over the world!

Thanks again for dropping by!

I am no longer an Amazon Affiliate and I DO NOT receive compensations from Amazon or any other product vendors. The links to various products in this Blog are ones that I use myself and are for your own reference and convenience. 

View Post

In The Montessori Music Room We're Matching World Instruments to the Continents!

WORLD MUSIC ACTIVITIES ARE EASY AND FUN FOR LITTLE CHILDREN IN THE MONTESSORI ENVIRONMENT!

Above photo by the artists at Dollar Photo Club

During the past months, our Montessori music classes have been exploring the music, dance and cultural celebrations from around the world. 

We started with music from Australia to celebrate Australia Day in January. 

You can read my post here: Musically Montessori and Preschool Movement Activities from Australia. 

Next, we "traveled" to the continent of Africa to create our musical story about carrying water and then we learned a call and response welcoming song. 

Here is that post: Musically Montessori and African Call and Answer With A Welcoming Dance.

In February, we celebrated the Chinese New Year with ribbon dancing and the "Listening to the Gong" game. 

You can read that post here: Musically Montessori and Celebrating Chinese New Year with Ribbon Dancing For Little Children.

We had an exciting Carnival celebration with music and samba dance from the continent of South America with "Carnaval" music from Brazil. 

Here is that post: Montessori Children Celebrate The Last Days of Winter With Carnival Season, Brazilian Style.

Our musical travels took us to Europe with music from Brahms and Tchaikovsky.

Here are those posts:

• Musically Montessori: Your Children Can Have Lots of Fun With The Music Of Europe Featuring Johannes Brahms!
• From The Montessori Music Room: Fun Activities From Tchaikovsky And The Music of Europe

The children really enjoyed celebrating the colors of Spring with our amazing celebration of Holi from India and the continent of Asia.

You can check out that post here: Musically Montessori and From India, A Celebration of Colors, Music and Dance for Children.

We couldn't leave out the Native American pow wow celebration! We begin with a "round dance" and then 4 children played the pow wow drum while the rest of us sang a Cherokee cleaning up song. 

Here is that post: Musically Montessori and Celebrating The Native American Music and Dance of North America!  

We spent the next 3 weeks reviewing songs and instruments for 2 continents at a time.

In the photo below, you can see how I set this activity up with 2 instruments from Africa wrapped up in a green scarf and 2 instruments from Asia wrapped up in a yellow scarf. 

The children had played these instruments a few weeks before, and they were excited to pass them around the circle and have another opportunity to explore making music from around the world.

Finally, we held our classroom"World Music Concert" with our little kids' band playing instruments from each of the 6 continents we've been exploring over the past months!

Our lesson began with one of our favorite movement activities from the past months. The children's favorites were "I Traveled Round Australia" and the "African Dance Story of Getting Water at the River." (see above mentioned posts)

Next, we sang the Montessori "Continents Song" along with the visual I made of the Montessori continents map. 

Montessori Continents Map from Amazon

Then, the children brought 2 rugs to the middle of the circle and we created our "stage". Many of the children had been to a music concert and so they were excited to have a stage for the "band" to perform.

Next, I brought out the instruments one by one from each of the six continents. (Sorry, no instruments from Antarctica!) 

I made this into a dramatic presentation, by wrapping each of the 6 instruments in scarves that matched the colors of the various continents on the Montessori puzzle map. As I unwrapped each, I laid them out on the "stage."

North America: Orange
South America: Pink
Europe: Red
Asia: Yellow
Africa: Green
Australia: Brown

When the instruments were all laid out on the "stage", 6 children were given a color coded card that coordinated with each continent and so each child took their place on the "stage." We called this band our world music band and we all helped the band warm up by clapping "Ti-ti Ta" while they played their instruments.

The instruments the world music band played are as follows. You can click on the link to see where each instrument can be purchased.

North American Buffalo Drum

South American Latin Cowbells

European Spanish Castanets

Asian Gong

African Mbira (thumb piano)

Australian-style "Didgi-tube"

Next, the child with the castanets got to choose the song for the band to play while we all sang along. 

We continued in this manner until all the children had a turn to be in the "World Music Band."

The children greatly enjoyed this activity...I could see from the big smiles on their faces!

Don't forget to check out the Link up at Living Montessori Now. My post is part of it! Montessori Monday.

I am busy preparing some new digital downloads for My TpT Store that are Lesson Plan Activity packs for each of the continents. They will be on sale during the Teacher's Appreciation TpT Site Wide Sale coming up soon. You'll be the first to know if you are one of my email subscribers!

If you aren't on my email list, it's easy to sign up on the sidebar at this blog. I would love for you to join!

SUBSCRIBE AND GET MY EBOOK FOR FREE!

I am no longer an Amazon Affiliate and I DO NOT receive compensations from Amazon or any other product vendors. The links to various products in this Blog are ones that I use myself and are for your own reference and convenience. 

View Post