Montessori Monday – Land and Water Forms at the Beach

Land and Water Forms at the Beach (Photo from Chasing Cheerios)

If you have the chance to visit the beach yet this summer, you can start your school year with a fun Montessori geography activity that requires very little preparation or expense. And if you can’t go to the beach, a sandbox will work well also.

I have a previous post with ideas for creating Montessori land and water forms for introducing preschoolers to island and lake, peninsula and gulf, cape and bay, system of lakes and archipelago, and isthmus and strait. Land and water forms are one of the more difficult DIY Montessori materials to make, however.

You can save yourself time and expense by using the idea from Chasing Cheerios of creating land and water forms at the beach or in a sandbox using a large aluminum container (photo at top of post). If you add blue food coloring (and maybe miniature boats) to the water along with miniature plastic animals to the sand, you can have even more fun.

Land and Water Form Extensions and Directions

Land and Water Form Photo Book (Image from Montessori Print Shop)

In addition to other land-and-water form materials, Montessori Print Shop has an inexpensive Land and Water Form Photo Book, which would work especially well as an extension.

Montessori for Everyone has inexpensive Land and Water Forms Command Cards which are a great extension for children who have mastered the land and water forms.

Land and Water Form Activity with Graham Crackers and Icing

My previous post on land and water forms has more links for land-and-water-form cards and directions for presenting land and water forms. And don’t forget the fun extension of creating land and water forms on graham crackers with blue icing!

Of course, for the best description of how to introduce land and water forms along with activities to extend the study of land and water forms, sign up for my mailing list. Then you’ll receive a free download of the American Montessori Society Geography Album by Karen Tyler of World Wide Montessori Online. It’s an amazing 177-page album covering Montessori geography activities for ages 2½-6.

Have fun with land and water forms at the beach – or in your mini beach in a sandbox that has sides and a bottom!

Montessori Monday Link-Up

Nicole from One Hook Wonder and I are the co-hosts of Montessori Monday. Be sure to visit Nicole’s blog if you haven’t yet today! If you have some Montessori ideas/lessons to share, please link up below. Please also place the Montessori Monday button (using the code from the right sidebar) in your post or put a link back to this post. Thanks for participating!