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June 28, 2013

Montessori Inspired 4th of July Trays for Older Toddlers

While it's definitely not required for Montessori at home, having themed toddler trays can be fun from time to time. Often these trays can be an engaging way for a toddler to learn about a specific holiday while also working on fine motor or language skills. 

When creating these trays, keep it simple and isolate the concepts that each is focusing on. Make sure the tray includes everything your child needs to complete the work. When presenting remember to include how to restore the work and put it away. 

4th of July Montessori Inspired Work

Here's a closer look at the 4th of July trays we had on our shelves with our older toddler. They included: 


Bead Pouring: Red, white {well wood}, and blue wooden bead pouring. Working on fine motor skills and precision. 


Dry erase matching: a simple DIY worksheet and some dry erase markers for more precision with a writing utensil. Plus some language work. 


Map dot painting: another DIY sheet and some dot markers. Fun for artistic expression and for more precision (hitting the dots.) Plus a little less mess than other types of painting. 


Pom-Pom Transfer: 1-to-1 red, white, and blue pom-pom tweezing into star shaped ice tray. Great fine motor work for summer time. I would now arrange the tray from left-to-right. 


Pattern Matching: another quick DIY for language work, matching 4th of July themed shapes


Scooping: Red, white, and blue rice scooping for fine motor control. (2023 update: I generally wouldn't use food anymore for this kind of transfer work, similar effect with gems, glass beads, or pebbles.) 


Make-your-own Flag: Probably best for preschoolers but a fun and hands on way to make a flag. 

And, that's it! Choosing one or two themed trays can make the holiday a little more concrete and hands on for your toddler. These simple trays are also an easy way to incorporate a little more learning into your toddler's play. I hope you enjoyed these simple 4th of July themed Montessori activities. 

Eight super simple Montessori inspired ideas to celebrate the 4th of July with Toddlers. These easy to use trays help to develop language and fine motor skills, read more to find out how!



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Comments

Beth
Beth said…
I love these ideas and want to steal them ALL. Thanks for this post!
Plumeriatmc
Plumeriatmc said…
What great ideas! Just pinned to use next year with my little girl.
Sixtine et Victoire
These look awesome Nicole!
Heather @ Golden Reflections Blog
Such cute ideas!! I love these trays, will definitely be trying these with my daughter in the next couple of weeks! Pinning now!