Montessori Monday – Using Montessori-Inspired Activities for Elementary-Level Learning

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Spielgaben. All opinions are honest and my own. This post also contains affiliate links (at no cost to you). My previous Spielgaben posts focused more on the preschool years, but Spielgaben toys are designed for ages 3-12. So, today I’m sharing some ideas for using Spielgaben toys for elementary-level learning activities. I’ve had fun preparing some Montessori-inspired activities for children ages 6-12.

My Previous Spielgaben Posts:

Check out my original Spielgaben review (with examples of Montessori-inspired activities as shown in the collage above) to find out more about Spielgaben educational toys. Spielgaben toys are exceptionally high-quality educational toys designed for ages 3-12.

The Spielgaben complete set comes with over 700 pages of full-color printed learning materials. These printed materials help you as a parent or teacher easily use Spielgaben toys educationally with your child and/or students.

Montessori-Inspired Color Activities Using Wooden Toys and Free Printables

Montessori-Inspired Math Activities Using Wooden Beads and Free Printables

Montessori-Inspired Geometry Activities Using Wooden Shapes and Free Printables

Montessori-Inspired Color Activities Using Spielgaben Yarn Balls and Free Printables

Montessori Monday – Geometric Solid Dressing, Wrapping, and Gift Giving (and Receiving)

Using Montessori-Inspired Activities for Elementary-Level Learning

While there’s a specific curriculum for Montessori elementary education ( see the Montessori elementary posts on my Montessori Resources page), many open-ended learning materials can be used to create hands-on activities appropriate for ages 6-12.  Spielgaben educational toys are specifically designed for learning activities through age 12 and already come with numerous activities suggested in the digital resource materials. To create Montessori-inspired activities, you could place them on trays on shelves or create a special area on a table. For preschoolers, I often place the exact number of pieces needed on the tray as a control of error (self–check). At the elementary level, I think it’s important for the children to have as large of a role in the creation of their activities as possible. So, I typically just placed a number of the materials needed from the various Spielgaben boxes into baskets from Montessori Services. I included a number of extra pieces with each activity to encourage creativity. In the Spielgaben playguides, you’ll find the exact words needed to introduce each activity. That’s very helpful if you don’t feel secure introducing an activity. For elementary-age children, you can even print out the pages and let your child follow the tutorial independently. In the activities I prepared, I often placed the page with directions on a small easel. For the inventions activity, I created a small booklet. Each of the activities was very quick and easy to prepare.

Cultural Activities for Creating a Museum

Art Masterpiece Activity

Art Masterpiece Activity

The art masterpiece activities for the Mona Lisa and the pictured Starry Night are part of a museum-creation project in the Spielgaben Playguide Part 2. Research on the paintings is suggested.

Inventions Activity

Charles Babbage Computer-Building Activity

There are ideas for building Thomas Edison’s light bulb, Antonio Meucci’s telephone, and Charles Babbage’s computer. Tape is used to hold the pieces together. Again, research is suggested along with the creation of a model museum using the Spielgaben toys.

Montessori-Inspired Geography Activities

Creating a Lotus (for a Study of India)

Lotus Creation Activity

I used one of the “Nature with Spielgaben” pages for the lotus activity. Building designs to go with a theme being studied is a great way to use Spielgaben toys for 6-12 year olds. Many of the included resource materials have examples that can be used as models or to stimulate ideas. Elementary-age children can use their creations as foundations for research projects or simply to add interest to a topic they’re reading about. An activity like the lotus-creation activity could be used for a study of India for children using Little Passports or for a continent-box study of Asia.

Building a Mongolian Ger

Mongolian Ger Building Activity

Building a Mongolian Ger would be another good activity for the study of Asia. This activity is from the Spielgaben Playguide Part 2.

Building an African House in a Tree

African House Activity

Building an African house in a tree is another of the house-building activities and would add to a study of Africa. This requires fairly advanced building skills and would be a good activity for elementary-age children. In addition to activities such as house building, there are a number of landmark-building activities in the Spielgaben resource materials that would be great for elementary-age children.

Montessori-Inspired Math/Geometry Activities

Activity for Calculating Surface Area

There are so many math and geometry activities that can be created with blocks and other 3-D shapes … everything from counting and learning math facts to working with decimals and fractions to identifying probabilities to discovering formulas such as circumference, volume, and area. The Spielgaben Playguide Part 4 shows the pictured activity using geometric solids to determine surface area.

UPDATE:

VERSION 4 OF SPIELGABEN EDUCATIONAL TOYS 

I highly recommend Spielgaben as an amazing educational material for home or school. Even though the toys aren’t inexpensive, they’re definitely worth the price because of the high quality of materials and number of years your children or students can use them.

Montessori Monday Link-Up

If you have some Montessori activity trays/lessons to share, please link up below. It’s fine to link up a post from your archives – and you may link up anytime during the week! Your post may be any Montessori-inspired activity or idea. It doesn’t need to be related to my Montessori Monday post. If you’re wondering what’s considered “Montessori inspired” and what to link up (or not link up), check out my “What Is Montessori Inspired?” post. Link up your exact post URL so that we can find your activity if we return to the linky at a later date (which I often do when I’m looking for activities for a roundup post).

I publish the Montessori Monday post and linky each Monday morning and keep the linky open throughout the week. Please place the Montessori Monday button (using the code from the right sidebar) in your post or put a link back to this post. Let’s use Montessori Monday to gain inspiration/ideas and to encourage each other! If you would leave an encouraging comment on the post linked up ahead of you (along with any other posts you’re drawn to), that would be awesome!

I’m not able to comment on every post, but I do a lot of pinning on Pinterest and sharing on the Living Montessori Now Facebook page from the Montessori Monday link-up. Thanks for participating!

Notes For community discussions, please join us at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page, We Teach Montessori Group, and/or Google+ Montessori Community. The We Teach Montessori group has a Member Resources Sharing (for resources such as freebies and series) as well as a Linky Party for We Teach Montessori. We Teach Montessori has a linky just like the one here except that it’s continuous where you may add your Montessori-inspired activities and ideas to the same linky. New links will go to the top of the linky. I’d love to see us build up a great collection of Montessori-inspired ideas there, too. After you link up here, why not hop over to the We Teach Montessori Group and link up there?!

And don’t forget the Saturday/Sunday Parent/Teacher Preparation Days share where you may share a kid-related activity of any kind at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page! It’s also Motivational Monday on Mondays now! I invite you to share something positive on the Bits of Positivity Facebook page (Bits of Positivity is my other blog) to help us all get a good start on the work/school week. You might share an inspirational or motivational quote, positive graphic, or post about finding balance or simplifying your life. Or you might share a post on organizing, an encouraging post, a post about making a difference in the world, or a positive parenting post. Just go ahead and share on the Bits of Positivity wall any time today! (Please “like” the Bits of Positivity Facebook page if you haven’t already.) I’ll be pinning a number of ideas to my regular Pinterest boards.

If you have a giveaway on your blog, please add it to my Family-Friendly Giveaway Linky Page! If you enjoy entering giveaways, you’ll always find some great giveaways there.

Learn more about my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to Teach Grace and Courtesy!

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‘); // ]]> Have you added the Montessori Monday button or a text link? Please be sure you’ve done one or the other so that others can find the link-up, too!

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