Sensorial – Baric Sense

“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)