There are many Montessori materials already hiding inside your home! Building the kinds of “work” we have on the classroom shelves can be done with household items, and without buying anything new. Your home materials don’t need to match what we have in the classroom, and there is no “perfect” way to set up materials. There are some key concepts the guides use when putting together materials for Practical Life work. We use color-coding as much as possible, for example all the items for washing a table may be red while all items for slicing a banana may be yellow. We also use natural materials as much as possible, such as items made from wood, glass, metal and ceramic.

When arranging the items for the child to use, on a tray or in a box or basket, place them in order from left to right. After you have built a new “work” for your child, they will need a lesson from you to show what the expectation is in use. Model taking the material from it’s place, how to use the material and how to clean it up, and finally returning it to the same place. This is how we keep the classroom organized!

While the children are home for this time, it’s okay to focus less on academics and more on helping out in the home, honing skills and promoting concentration. Most of the materials you can build in the home come from our Practical Life area of work. This area of work includes materials used for caring for one’s person and one’s environment. Caring for one’s person includes work like practicing buttons/zippers, tying shoes, washing one’s face, and sewing work. Caring for the environment includes cleaning and care of anything in the home! Some examples include watering plants/cleaning leaves, sweeping, dusting/washing a table, washing windows and food preparation.

Your child’s age is very important to consider when building work. For example, a three year old may have the skills needed to slice a banana, while a 5 year old may be able to measure, mix and stir ingredients for banana bread. Younger children may need to practice skills, with more simple work we call Preliminaries. These activities include work like carrying a pitcher/glass of water, carrying a chair, carrying a tray with something on it, folding cloths, spooning, and pouring grains or water from one container to another. Remember these Preliminary activities require a lesson from you, just like the more complex materials.