What a great idea! Sylvia Muccillo, owner of Peachtree City Montessori School says, “Just wanted to share…we just added this olive oil tasting activity in our Practical Life area…the children love it!”

The tray shown on the shelf: (ready to carry)

1. Bread container with lid
2. Jigger glass with a control line for pouring olive oil
3. Small see-through glass pitcher with olive oil
4. Plate with small tongs for picking up bread
5. Rimmed container for olive oil dipping

The tray shown on the table: (ready to taste)

(From the ©UMA archives)

Employment Opportunity! Work days: Tuesday through Friday 9:00 to 3:00.
Email your resume to cottage10@comcast.net. Or mail:The Cottage Montessori School
11878 Schold Road NW
Silverdale, WA 98383

Phone: 360-692-1055

A creative transferring exercise, as shared by a UMA student, Katy Seymour Spiller from Colorado, using beautiful and natural materials. Polished rocks, brass-lined bowls, and a tea strainer!

Developmental benefits?

• Direct: Strengthening fine motor muscles, coordination, concentration, sense of order, independence, confidence, awareness of sound (rocks touching brass surface), self control (transferring the rocks gently)  …Plus, how to manage a tea strainer!
• Indirect: Preparation for reading (left-to-right directionality), writing (hand/finger strengthening), preparation for Math (pre-counting, quantity, observing volume, less < or more >) …Appreciation for beauty.

“All these explorations into the sphere of sensorial attributes…collectively form an unusually sure and broad foundation for the child’s subsequent higher mental life.”
Maria Montessori.Melissa Briede, UMA graduate from Indiana, shares her Sensorial project of sorting jars by weight. She did a beautiful job of “isolating the stimulus”…making sure all attributes are the same, keeping the focus entirely on weight.

She filled the jars with the following items and surrounded them with cotton so that they would not move or rattle when shaken:
Heavy-

• Ball of clay
• Small decorative soaps
• Votive candle

Light-

• Skein of yarn
• Three wine corks
• Two mini pinecones

As a “control of error,” Melissa placed a blue dot on the bottom of the heavy jars and a red dot on the bottom of the light jars. The child could then turn the jars over and “check to be sure.”

Purpose:

• Development of baric sense
• Concentration
• Ability to make judgments

• Development of muscular coordination and control
• Development of Language – descriptive words (light and heavy) and movement from left to right, top to bottom (indirect preparation for reading/writing)

Here’s a lovely tray set up for little hands to scrub their nails, shared by UMA student Georgia Fazi of Italy. This activity aids in the development of order, control of movement, coordination, concentration, independence, and self care.  Very inviting!

It’s all in one’s mindset, isn’t it? Face difficulties with optimism and don’t forget to ENJOY the challenges!