Autumn at St Andrew's Montessori
,

Autumn-themed activities for Montessori families

The golds, reds and browns of autumn signal the transition from summer to winter. The days slowly get darker and the weather a little cooler. September (in particular) is an incredible month; still warm, not too wet (yet) plus it’s conker…
Food Prep tutorial with St Andrew's Montessori
,

Practical Life: Food Preparation

Working in the kitchen is a wonderful way to include children in everyday family activities; not only will children learn practical life skills but they will be engaged on a sensory level, too. If this is something you’d like to do…
Chores at St Andrew's Montessori
,

Chores for small children

What we think of as “chores” Maria Montessori thought of as daily life or practical life skills. The benefits of children helping out around the house has been well researched and documented; it teaches responsibility, independence and importantly,…
Transferring Objects tutorial with St Andrew's Montessori
,

Practical Life: Transferring objects

There are many fun activities that children can do to develop their fine motor skills but one of the favourites in the Montessori classroom is transferring objects. This is something that keeps little ones occupied for ages and can certainly…
Rainbow at St Andrew's Montessori
,

Ten tips on how to manage coronavirus fears in the early years

Life during the Covid-19 pandemic has been strange and difficult but the return to school for many children in the early years group is, hopefully, a welcome step. Little ones will be able to reconnect with their friends and teachers, and although…
Water Pouring tutorial with St Andrew's Montessori
,

Practical Life: Water Pouring

In a Montessori classroom, the water pouring activity is the first follow-on from the Dry Pouring lesson where children learn the skill transferring dry goods from one jug to another. To practice water pouring at home, you will need: two jugs,…
Montessori girl washing her hands and learning about hygeine
,

Toddler self-hygiene – washing hands

Maria Montessori was a trained physician and sought to teach children at an early age how to incorporate the practical life skill of personal hygiene into their daily lives. As well as nurturing an understanding that being hygienically safe…
Bow tying frame to teach practical life in Montessori
,

Practical Life: Tying Frame

Learning to tie a shoelace is one of the most exciting milestones for a child (and a parent, too!) but it takes time to learn, requiring much practice before perfection. In Montessori classrooms, we use a bow-tying frame, which involves the…
Girl staring at a screen
,

How to include screen time in a Montessori lifestyle

The more time our children spend with screens, the less time they spend interacting with others or in hands-on, creative play, which are both proven to be important for learning. Screens were invented in an era that came after Maria Montessori…
Matching pairs to teach language in Montessori
,

Language: Matching

Matching pairs is a game that children love to play – there is likely a version in most of our homes and if not, it’s quite easy to create your own playing cards using postcards or stock images, as long as the paired images are identical.…
St Andrew's Montessori nursery adopt a tiger
,

We adopted a tiger!

Imagine having a tiger at school! – Being able to protect it and feed it, look after it and learn from it. It might sound bizarre but not at all in the mind of a child – and is, in fact, exactly what the children were discussing in one of…
Hexagon boxes teaching Montessori sensorial
,

Sensorial: Hexagon Box

The hexagon box shows children how different shapes can be used to create other shapes; more specifically, that by joining together different triangles, four-sided figures are formed.  The sensorial angle of the lesson means that it can be…