MIXING, KNEADING AND THEN MAKING DOUGHS ARE ALL PERFECT FOR A CHILD TO DEVELOPE HIS SENSES , FINE MOTOR AND GROSS MOTOR SKILLS

                   CONCENTRATION CANNOT BE TAUGHT BUT CAN BE CREATED

Last week we were discussing the different forms of SOLID  after the innitial lesson on SOLID, LIQUID AND GAS, so one of the child asked ,"what about the powders?". I said, "Well, its a form of solid", then another child shouted, "wow, I have an idea , we can add water to the powder, and we can see if it still remains solid ?". I said," Yes , why not".

So the next day, I arranged the desired stuff like, flour, few herbs, mixing bowls etc. And now its time for my children to start their experiment. One by one ,they all mixed the spices in the wheat flour.

 

 Every child was cautious about what Herbs and how much of it can be mixed in the flour, so they all acted intelligently calculating many things like if the Mixture has more or less of some herbs .

 

 

 

 Children learn the exactness of measurment not by reading books about the topic  or doing Worksheets but by DOING it with their own HANDS.

 

Wow! and then the Ultimate Kneading process began , its all about using their fine-motor and Gross-motor skills to its maximum.

Thay have added some Rose water to the mixture and then enjoyed the beautiful aroma coming out.

 

For three year olds, the mixing of water itself is a MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

 

 

And then I witnessd that each child developed his or her own way of calculating the amount of water needed to make the dough. 

 

Each child was discovering his own way of kneading , thats for sure only comes with the Direct interaction with the dough regardless of what you teach them to do so.

 

 

Then they started making little balls , some children choose to make big balls ,and they just  refused to make a little one . Here I can see the power of DECISION is developing.

 

Every single ball coming out of the Dough was enjoyed by the kids, and each ball taught them a different lesson.

 

 

Amazing view of making their own stuff .

 

                                              

Now its time to transfer them into a Baking tray , no ne taught them about the size of the tray and holders, but they discovered it by themselves how big a  dough ball can fit into it.

 

And the tray was getting filled with lots of balls.

 

 

 

  

 

ADULTS DEFINITION OF MESSINESS needs to be changed because they dont know what a child can learn through it.

 

                    

Its natural for a Montessori child to start the clean up process after the work is done. This child carried the tray to the Wash basin in the classroom and started washing it, followed by other students who carried differnt stuff and washed it one by one.

 

 

Then the whole class was busy cleaning the environment . Cleaning the floor after the activity is just another  NATURAL INSTINCT in a chid, no REMINDERS NEEDED.

 

And as we sponge and srub the tables everyday , they all felt the need to clean them too.

 

After the mopping ,this child felt the urge to collect the tinnest objects from the floor.

 

 And here lies the satisfaction a child can get after the Completion of the task, infact a Task can never be completed without the urge to clean the environment.  And in a Montessori classroom, cleaning is the most imporatnt component of the Task .
            So they have learned that adding water to the flour doesn't change it's form into  LIQUID ; a lesson they should learn in their EARLY CHILDOOD YEARS.