How to introduce Montessori Practical Life Activities
The benefits of children learning something real
In this email, we are going to be exploring practical life activities and how they benefit everyone in the family.
You might've heard of the term 'practical life' activities from Montessori bloggers. The term has become wildly popular over recent years as accounts share (sometimes very expensive) ideas on how they’ve created a home environment that helps aid their child’s learning.
If you haven't heard the term before, practical life essentially refers to activities that are purposeful in nature. Practical life activities relate to:
self care: brushing teeth, getting dressed, putting on shoes etc.
care of the environment: watering plants, cleaning up, helping cook etc.
Before we begin:
Montessori has almost become synonymous with expensive toys, expensive furniture and expensive accessories - which is actually pretty ironic given the origins. But it doesn’t have to be that way at all. This particular lesson will help you implement simple practical life activities at home without having to spend a lot of money.
What You’ll Learn in this article:
The difference between practical life activities and chores
Maslow’s hierarchy of Needs and How it relates to practical life activities
How practical life activities help you and your child
When you should get started with practical life activities
Examples of activities per age + downloadable resource
Equipment essentials