Color: DIY Color Box

I've been trying not to buy Color Box 3 for ages.  I think the layout is SO PRETTY.  But since I couldn't justify it, I made a DIY version with paint samples from Walmart.  I'm not into taking big piles of free stuff from stores, but this time I made an exception, as I will likely laminate and maintain this collection, using it to choose paint over the next hundred years. 

I found that the biggest time investment is FINDING the shades in order.  It was a workout for my eyes!  I don't like the one that I can't cut off the name of the shade without making my card tiny, so I had to hand pick the colors individually.  (I think these are Better Homes and Gardens)  Then I went home and lopped off the name.

I *think* I have EIGHT of each color blue, red, yellow, green, orange, purple.  I have the browns and black but they don't have a place on my color wheel, so we put them to the side.

Since my kids are older, we mix all the cards.  They sort by color and then shade.

First we lay out the primary colors.

Then we add the secondary colors.

Full disclosure, my kids don't LOVE this activity like I do.  But after performing it a few times, I found them lining up all their markers, pencils, and crayons by color and shade and sorting them into containers.

Steriognostic/Math: Cuisenaire Chutes and Ladders

I LOVE this game. The kids quickly learn the cuisenaire values, get great sensory discernment, memorize their math facts, and learn to measure in centimeters with their hands!

It's just chutes and ladders.  The print out you see is from this free book.  You could also use a regular Chutes and Ladders board.

Instead of using a spinner, you draw rods out of the bag.  Yes, that IS a bag for crackers.  My pretty canvas bag hadn't come in the mail yet.

You may have to set a time limit on how long someone gets to root around in the bag looking for a "5" so they can go up the ladder, but I think it's worth it.

In order to master the game, there were several spontaneous "time outs" called by the short folks to line up all the rods by size and practice measuring with eyes closed.  They were worried that I wouldn't like that.  As Margaret Homfrey from Montessori World says, "You see the children doing intelligent things....and the teacher is very pleased."

Art Lessons: Inset Designs

Our Didax plastic insets from amazon are a favorite activity.  All you need is the insets, colored pencils, paper cut to size, and a hard surface.  

There are ten shapes in the series (see below.)

We use the series of lessons found at Montessori world. You can see our progression above.  

1.  One pink inset traced, colored with straight lines, picking up the pencil each time. 

2.  One shape rotated.  

3.  Trace the window, then trace the actual shape and see how close you can get.

4.  Use more than one shape.

5.  Make a symmetrical design and play with color.

6.  Move the stencil over the page evenly to fill the whole sheet.

But, of course, I just show them these lessons each time I set it out.  BUT,  I don't interrupt whatever they decide to do with it.

Setting Up Centers

For the first fifteen minutes of our school day, I set out all the activities for kids not in the back with me.  I lay out the green mats on the floor of the living room and maybe tie some braiding scarves to the leg of the TV stand.

If I have something that works best in the dark, I put that in the coat closet.

But, the big action area is the table.  I typically set out four to six activities that can survive getting dripped on with ranch.

Motor Development: Little Chains and Links

This activity is popular from my nine year old all the way to the ten month old.  She can't do the links but LOVES playing with the finished product.  Little ghosty!

Materials:  6-1 foot lengths of cheap chain from Depot (~$.60 per foot), a pile of unused "quick links" from grampa's garage, caribeaners (optional)

This takes very little presentation.  The kids just run with it.  

Auntie's Coloring Book

My sister-in-law is SO TALENTED!  Look what she made for my kids for Christmas.  She's an artist in Asheville, NC at Woolworth Walk.

By far the best coloring book we've ever had.  The kids are so careful to color it well.

It just goes to show if you give children something special, they treat it with care.  

I hope we get one every year!

Grading: Mini-Knobbed Cylinders

I would love to buy the giant knobless cylinders, but I can't justify the price yet.  Especially when my heart is set on a $128 mass kit.  And an $80 tessellation kit.

Anyway, these were $25 and get the point across. They are challenging enough to hold my nine-year-olds attention if you get them out all at once.  The four sets are as follows:

These are popular every time I get them out.  They aren't as sexy as the big ones, but we have a storage issue and the mini set doesn't take up much space.  

Grampa's Garage

Oh my, the bounty we plundered in my daddy's garage.  I haven't even gotten to some of it, but this is what we have out this week.  Fancy, huh?

Great Store-Bought Centers

Snap circuits are by far the best toy we've ever had.  To present it, I pulled out enough pieces for the first couple of exercises and turn him loose.  Soon he comes begging for more pieces so he can keep going.  I made him play with it for a week before I allowed him access to all the pieces.  

I love this one more than the kids.  I love puzzles.  I've seen them play with it a few times, but usually only want to if I'm already doing it.

Much more beloved are the $1 tangram puzzles from Michael's. (Just be sure to take a picture of the puzzles BEFORE you open it or you might never get them back together!)

 They get taken apart, put back together, and then made into characters.

No Stress Chess is GREAT.  Mostly because my nine year old nags me to play chess and it takes SO LONG.  But no stress chess limits your options and really teaches the kids the possible moves.

Anything magnetic is popular in our house.  Magnetic Match Rings is a great activity.  I set out a few cards each day.  They do the puzzles and then play freely....  

really freely...

Bendaroos are also fantastic.  Middle Kid is really into braiding lately and bendaroos stay put for her.  However, most days, the bendaroos are shaped like people or stuck to the walls as decoration.  No mess.  I love them.

Supermind is another game that I like way more than they do.  Little Kid likes to put the pieces in the tray, but is uninterested in the cards.  Big Kid did a pile of them the first day and hasn't touched it without incentive since.  However, anything that I can make into a competition (Mama did five, how many did you do?) or let him take pictures of, immediately becomes popular again.

Motor Development: Stapling, Punching

This was a mistake.  I have to learn over and over again that limiting the choices is KEY for my kids.  Later in the week, I cut it down and split it into two trays.  And, this is also one of those activities for which that Dollar Tree supplies WILL NOT WORK.

Punching tray:

Use 1 DECENT hole puncher, like the one pictured above, leftover strips of paper from other projects, Dollar Tree Zen garden tray for a trash tray and a paper liner.  You see the froggy punch out on the left?  Dollar tree punchers are HARD and don't line up correctly.

Variations:  other decent punchers (one or two only), a three hole punch (a good one that actually releases the paper and does stick on one or more holes.

Stapling and UN-stapling tray:


Same tray, paper, and liner set-up.  A DECENT stapler, a staple remover, and box of staples. Demonstrate for child how to load and unload stapler, staple two sheets together, remove staples, and put the tray to rights.

*Note:  Child WILL want to staple without paper or hold like a gun and *shoot* staples.  I allowed it as long as the staples remained on the tray or were *shot* into the trash tray.  It's up to you, but know that it WILL come up.

Motor Development: Playdoh and Golf Tees

This activity was best for my 5-year old. It's an old stand by, but since I let them use real hammers and nails, the hammering part wasn't that exciting.  However, my five year old did really enjoy cramming every single tee into the dough at once and balancing all the balls on them.  (Wish I had a picture of that..  It looked like an inside out porcupine.)

To set it up:

Materials needed:   tees, Dollar Tree(DT) dough,  DT boot tray, DT mini-bouncy balls or marbles, hammer from some other toy

Demonstrate activity for child from beginning to setting the tray back up for the next kid.

Motor Development: Zen Garden

This is a 100% Dollar Tree activity!  One Zen Garden, a piece of felt for a liner to catch errant sand, and a Dollar tree cookie sheet. (The shell is from Middle Kid's collection) The rocks and rakes you see are actually a combination of two $1 gardens, as I use the other tray for sandwriting words.

All three kids (5-9yrs), loved this activity.  They used the rakes on the sand and arranged the rocks and I think there might have been a transformer battle in there at one point.

Not very Zen.

Grading: Bolts

This is one of our favorite activities.  I saw it first in Montessori at Home.  He has a specific set of measurements for grading the bolts, washers, and nuts, but my home improvement store didn't carry those sizes, so I just got the biggest bolt I could find and worked my way down in increments.  The associate on that row must have thought I was crazy.

Anyway, I just used a dollar store tray and sheet of foam with at least six different sized bolts, nuts, and five matching washers.  I have  the kids grade them according to size and then put them together.  At first they tried to do it without grading, but as a larger washer will fit on any of the bolts that are smaller, they got  confused, so grading is necessary. 

Of course my boys HAVE to think outside the box...

 And let's don't forget the bunny ears....

Motor Development: Caribeaners

Materials:  4/$1 caribeaners from Walmart, dollar store tray with liner. 

How To: 
1.  Show child how to make a chain.
2.  Unlink chain and place materials back in tray.

Notes:  If I had it to do over again, I would get a LOT more caribeaners and limit the colors.  These could be used for patterning, but I really have too many colors going here. Also, this is a little kid activity.  Even my five year old thought it was too "baby."

Motor Development: Pill (Mint) Cutting

This is perhaps the most popular center I've ever put out!

Materials:  Dollar Tree pill box, Dollar Tree pill cutter, Dollar Tree cookie tray, liner, colored breath mints, bowl for unsatisfactory cuts (according to them, not me)

How to:
1.  Call child over.
2.  Demonstrate cutting a few mints
3.  Sort divided mints by color into the pill box.
4.  Stand back and buy more mints!

They cut...

and cut....

and cut...

I had to resort to finding cheaper mints because they sliced $4 worth the first day!  But, now I have tons of tiny mints to hand out in mass, arranged by color and taste.

Grading: Sockets

Materials Needed:  A series of sockets decreasing in size (rob hubby's tool box), a Dollar Tree tray liner with paper or foam, small box to hold sockets all mixed.

How To:
1.  Invite child over to see what you have.
2.  Gently pull each socket out of the box and lay on the table all mixed up.
3.  Find the biggest socket and set it on the left side of the paper.
4.  Find the next sized socket and set it beside the largest.
5.  Continue until all of the sockets are in a line.
6.  Place sockets back in the box, mixed for the next time.

I *think* I saw this activity in Montessori At Home.  Some activities I already had and THEN saw them in John's e-book, but I think I got this one from him.

Variations:  Go smallest to largest.  Make a curve.  Stack a tower.  Lace them on a shoelace.

Sorting: Magnets

If you have a magnet around the house, this is the easiest activity to throw together.

Materials:  Magnet (mine is the one used in canning), Dollar Tree Cookie tray, optional labels saying "Magnetic" and "Not Magnetic" (got mine here), a pencil box or bread pan, and crap from your junk drawer.  HA!

How To:

1.  Call child over and show him the box.  

2.  Lay the two signs on a mat like so:

3.  Begin pulling items from the box and testing them, placing in the correct column.

4.  After two or three, say "I'm done testing now" and put them back in the box.

Note:  Once child has determined which items are magnetic a few times, objects generally have to be switched for new items from your junk drawer to keep interest.  I keep the same items out for a week, then if I'm going to re-use the activity the next week, I change out all the items.