,

Sensorial/Language: Matching Snowflakes

sensorial montessori snowflakes

Matching games are traditionally found in the Language section of a Montessori classroom but because the exercise has a sensorial application (as children will be visually discriminating against different snowflakes – in this case), it could also be categorised as part of the Sensorial curriculum, as My Works Montessori has done in the below video:

You’ll notice that the matching exercise is very much like ‘matching pairs’ – a game that many families are likely to have at home; matching like with like. It’s a fun activity that is good for brain development, emphasising and growing the following skills and practises:

  • Concentration, which is calming and deeply satisfying for the child.
  • Mastery (of skill) through repetition.
  • Demonstration of knowledge and practising vocabulary (and the further expansion of both knowledge and vocabulary with more advanced activities).
  • Visual recognition and discrimination.
  • Order and understanding – matching (understanding categories) is a manner of creating order, which helps a child understand their world as well as their place within it.
  • Thinking and reasoning, which may later transfer to other activities and behaviours.
  • Problem Solving – and the ensuing satisfaction of finding the answer.
  • Memory skills – the ability to store, organise and retrieve information; recalling information in relation to something seen before.
  • The activity can be done alone or in collaboration with classmates, siblings or a parent.

What we love about this particular activity is its seasonal application. In the video, the theme is winter (snowflakes) but an autumn theme could focus on matching leaves, and an extension of the game could be to collect leaves from the outside and have a lesson on their distinguishing characteristics, and perhaps even matching real leaves rather than a pictorial version.

Such a simple activity, when expanded and applied, creates so much scope for learning.

If you’d like further information about this tutorial, feel free to contact us at info@saintandrewsmontessori.com. We’re happy to answer any questions.