Sensory Boxes And More Summer Fun

I have been following several websites that are promoting Montessori based learning techniques and have been fascinated by many of the ideas. While, I am not promoting the more child-lead learning in our home
I do like quite a few of the ideas that I have read about.
If you are interested in reading more on the Montessori ways of education here is a Wikipedia link

Montessori 

Sorting Box

One of the first things I tried was the idea of a sorting box for Conner.
Here is an example of one I found online


I gave Mr C twice as many toys as holes and asked him to put them inside.
He had a lot of fun taking them in and out.
Toward the end he was making great progress toward placing only two items inside each hole.
So, if you choose to try this with your wee ones.
You could try it as I have done, also it would be good to try having them sort by color and or shape.

Sensory Box

This is great for varying ages. Both my 3 year old and my 16 month old can get into this and learn in different ways. For mine I used beans, pasta, straws, spoons and little cups to pour with.
The fun thing is, you can do grouping activities, counting or spotting differences.
It is a great bonding experience too. I look forward to making more like this.

Playing in the box