1. Take photos of objects around your house. I used toys, stuffed animals, favorite books, furniture, a vent Tyler especially likes, and a couple kitchen items he uses. Some were easy and some more difficult, such as not only finding a pig from his Three Little Pigs play set, but finding the pig with the blue overalls.
2. Print the photos. I don't have a printer myself but was able to get $.09 prints at Walmart.
3. Demonstrate the activity. Then present your child with one photo at a time, name the object, and ask if they can find it. This is another time where keeping things in the same place becomes important!
The photo cards. I didn't laminate or label these with the words, but it's surely an option. I may do this at a later date if the activity becomes a favorite.
Ty ran right to his favorite snowman decoration, then checked the photo.
It's a match!
Naturally, when he found an item, he wanted to play with it. By the end of our second hunt, we got through three cards before the activity ended. When the game becomes more familair to him, I will put the cards in a pocket on the wall for him to play independently. It's clearly self-correcting so I think he will enjoy it!
As he grows older, I'll likely make the game more difficult by photographing certain shapes and/or colors of things such as his unit blocks, or ask him to find a specific page in one of his favorite books. Finding lesser-used items around the house would make it more of a challenge for older children as well.
On a bit of a side note, you can make this activity even less expensive by printing two objects on one card, either by obviously taking a photo of two objects at a time and cutting the photo in half, or by using doing a manual photomerge in photoshop and cropping the photo [File-->Automate-->Photomerge].
This is such an awesome idea!
ReplyDeleteI'm on the August board, and I would love some of the links that you find such neat ideas from! I have lookes, but most of the Montessori info I find is for children a bit older than ours.
My email is kacieadmartin@gmail.com.
Thanks for all you share! You really inspire me :)
What an awesome activity! I will be doing this with Mya for sure! Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Kacie and DjRead!
ReplyDeleteYou're right Kacie, most activities are for kids 3+, as that's the population Montessori worked with, though she observed and researched newborns and up. Comng up with activities takes some research on the method and creativity, but there are so many blogs, web sites and some Montessori activity books that will list a few activities for this age. I pick ideas up here and there and really don't have sites, other than the amazing blogs listed here on the side-bar of my blog (highly suggested that you check them out), that I go to. I also worked with toddlers for several years and have taken from those experiences. I got the photo hunt idea, and several others, from a book called "More to do with Toddlers and Two's" that I had when I worked in day care, though I believe it's out of print. You can buy is used here though: http://www.amazon.com/More-Things-Do-Toddlers-Twos/dp/0910287082