Including children in the day-to-day routines that adults are accustomed to helps them understand and develop their practical life skills. Daily life activities around the home are a wonderful way to deepen their appreciation for contribution and community. We’ve put together some developmentally appropriate activities for each age group. Have you tried any of these with your Montessorian?
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The Montessori Notebook offers some tips, and things to keep in mind, when establishing tasks for children to complete and help with in the home.
- Never force the child – you can do these alongside each other or step in when they need help
- Look for child-sized brooms, mops and utensils to give the greatest success
- Slow down taking time to show your child how to do these tasks
- Keep your movements slow, and limit talking at the same time – makes it easier for them to copy you
- Makes chores around the house lots more fun if there is a little one alongside trying it out too
- Let go of perfection – you may find that the spill is not completely wiped up, there is water at the bottom of the pot plant etc.
- Scaffold skills – start with one step at a time and build on it
- Enjoy yourselves – if it starts to feel like hard work, come back to it in a couple of weeks