Rainbow Activities - Part II

Some more rainbow fun - Montessori style! Click here for Part I.

Practical Life

Pouring colorful buttons...
Scooping "alphabet soup" from one container into two...
I used food coloring and dyed this pasta in batches. I'd be happy to do a tutorial on how I dyed the items in this post if anyone is interested - let me know!

James always enjoys spooning work and with this one he came up with a surprise grace and courtesy lesson - he carefully scooped "soup" into each bowl, and then he brought one of the bowls over to me and he said, "Here's some soup for you, Mama. It's delicious!". To which I replied, "Thank you, James!" and then he in turn said, "You're welcome, Mama!" Oh how I love good manners!

Transferring flowers with tongs...
I cut these flowers from a lei I purchased at the dollar store. We did this same activity for St. Patrick's Day only in that case we used green and white flowers. James handles tongs with such ease now, whereas a few months ago he either couldn't or wouldn't. He also named the colors of each flower as he transferred it.

Sweeping rainbow rice...
James l-o-v-e-d this work and has done it several times. I found the little crumb brush and dustpan here. The rainbow rice is homemade with food coloring.

Matching jars and lids...
Ok, so not a rainbow activity, but I was anxious to put this out on our shelves. I've been saving up glass jars of various sizes for the past few months and I finally had enough to create this work. The lids are inside the homemade bag. James was really into this activity. It has come off the shelves many times. Love when that happens!

Buttoning with the button snake...
It's been a while since I put this out, and I'm pleased to say James was really interested in it this time. Unfortunately, I need to re-evaluate the design of my snake. I think the button is too small because it was tricky for James to get a good grasp on it.

Color mixing...
This is a classic Montessori activity whereby the child uses a dropper to transfer the colors from the (baby food) jars into the cube sections of the ice tray. They take notice of the color change that occurs when certain colors are mixed together. We love this work - anything involving water is usually at the top of the list for James. :)

Rolling/unrolling a mat...
Again, not rainbow (sorry!), but I snapped this shot of James and wanted to share it. We use a mat for all of our floor activities. For those not familiar with Montessori, the reason for using a mat is because it delineates the child's workspace. It's best to use mats/rugs that are light in color and free from distracting patterns or designs. This allows the child to focus on the work, not the mat. Anyway, rolling and unrolling a mat is one of the very first things a child learns in a Montessori environment. James is a pro at this and usually knows which activities are intended for a mat and which are meant for the table.

Sorting

Sorting gems by color...I found these fake crystal looking gems at the pet store of all places! I found the citrus bowl at our local thrift store and the small pepper looking bowls (I think they're supposed to be apples) came in a kit which I purchased here. Just a side note, if you do decide to order this kit please note the quality of the small fake food is quite poor.

Sorting wooden beads by color or pattern...I love these beads. I found them at a store called Daisy & Mac. They came all bound together on a long elastic string. No clue what the intended purpose was for them, but I thought they'd make a great sorting tool.

Placing colored beads into the suction cups of bathtub mats (you can find the mats here)...
Excellent activity for improving fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and color discrimination. The cute little clay pot is from Mexico, a gift from my dear friend, Dana. James is SO careful with it - he knows it's special and treats it with great respect. I know a lot of people don't believe this, but children can (and should!) be trusted with breakable things. They just need to learn how to handle them first. There's sense of pride and accomplishment they inherit from knowing they are being trusted with these kinds of things.

Sorting itty bitty fruit by shape and color.
James got such a kick out of these! He loves tiny things. Of course he counted the fruits as he sorted them. :) I found these at our local craft store.

Click here and here to see our other rainbow activities.