0-10 Acorn Counting

With the beginning of the school year approaching, ideas of new works are popping in to my head!  This was super easy to make.  The acorn leaf paper I've had for years.. It was given to me by a former co-worker.  It was actually a tablet of paper.  I used my number stickers and laminated the paper.  I got the acorns at Michaels. 

It will take at least 2 bags of the acrons (they were $3.99 each but remember your coupon!)  There are two different sizes of acorns in the bag  and I wanted them to be all the same size.  After taking count when I got home, I found I was 5 short.  But thankfully I just happend to have some extras in my Thanksgiving box from last year to make 55.  Love it when that happens!

Here's a close up

Now I just need to decide if I should put them out in September, October, or November!

boomerang art

For our Australia study this year we talked a lot about the animals, the land, and the native people the Aborigines.  We looked at many pictures of their art and paintings first and read books about their culture and how they used boomerangs to hunt!  (which was news to me!)  We made these boomerangs and they were a hit!  I cut the shape out of brown poster board and showed them at circle time different ways to do it. 

I wish I had some pictures of theirs to post on here!  Everyone's was so unique.  Some kids even painted suns and turtles on them.  We hung them up at school and then made an Aborigine painting boarder with 2x11 strips of black, green, and red paper.  Each child made a boarder or two (with 'lines and dots') to put around our boomerangs!  It really looked beautiful up there for our Australia study!

Land and Water Globe Art

This is a work I do every few years at the beginning of a geography study after introducing the land and water globe.  This is a black line master that I copy on blue construction paper.  I put glue in a little jar and water it down a bit so it's a thin consistency.  I show them to paint the glue where the land is and then sprinkle sand out of a salt shaker!  It's a favorite every time we do it!

1-10 Thematic Counting

This is a 1-10 counting activity from on of our fellow Montessori bloggers, Tiffany.  

She used 2"x4" labels and backed on cardstock cut to 3"x5".  She found clipart that related to the fall and added numbers in 24 pt font (this is the best size for paper clips).  You could use clothes pins or any fun clips that relate to your theme.  She plans on making them for each of her unit studies. 

You might even be able to find theme related clothespins!

The famous Montessori Suction Cup Pads!

Every Montessori classroom has these suction cup pads out on their practical life shelves at one time of year or another.  They can be a bit hard to find and I totally scored when I came across these!  I think they are made to be a bath toy as they are flat on the other side so they'd be for a child to make shapes out of...similar to tangrams.  

They are great to use with water, beads, or pom pom balls as these cups are a bit bigger than the average so  they are a bit more diverse!  

 Made by Discovery toys, there are at least 20 in the box of lots of different shapes.  Stars and moons for a solar system study, hearts for valentines day, flowers for botany, and even an octagon for your transportation unit!

I love putting a few of the basic shaped ones out at the beginning of the year with color coded pom pom balls.  

I believe you can find the classic white circle ones at Amazon (I've had good luck finding these at garage sales) and you can get shaped ones (ducks,dolphins, etc) in the bath section at Fred Meyer.  Although you have to buy a pack of eight...all the same...but then your friends will love you because you can share!

Wheel of Rhythm

Another way to add music to your classroom is by having a variety of rhythm instruments!  I like to have a lot of structure in these activities otherwise it can turn chaotic fast!  After multiple lessons on how to play each instrument (over the course of a few months) it's fun to mix it up a bit.  

The Wheel of Rhythm is something I made to do just that!  I start by passing out the instruments at circle.  I spin the top part (or have a child spin it) and whatever instrument appears in the window is what is played.  Usually to one of the "beats" we've learned or they choose their favorite.

Here's a close up of the 'window'.  There is also a window of green meaning 'everyone play' and red for everyone to stop!

This is just made from 2 pieces of poster board, some die cuts (that I did at Ben Franklin) and pictures I took of  instruments.  I printed them out so they are all the same size.  What makes it spin is a rivet used for scrapbooking.

Practical Life Organization

 Every school has a different system as far as organizing their materials go.  The practical life objects are materials that are used so often it needs to be accessible and easy for when you're switching out your works! Even when your not switching out practical life these objects come in handy for counting works, science activities...it's endless!  One of my best friends, Mia, came up with this idea.  These are plastic storage containers from IKEA.  They are perfect for the job!

 You can see everything so easily.

 And they stack on each other for easy storage!  I currently use about 9 of them to hold all my practical life objects but I could use more!  These are one of the items at IKEA that you cannot mail order- unfortunately.