Henry is very interested in the sounds each letter makes and what letter words start with. I've been encouraging this interest in variety of ways through our tot school trays, but I wanted another option for him. A DIY Montessori sound object box was perfect since it combined small language objects {another favorite for Henry} and letter sounds.
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The Montessori sound object box is a work where children can place small objects in the box that corresponds with the object's beginning sound. It could be one object or several depending on how many you have available.
In my case, I found the box with 25 compartments at a thrift store for $4. So, I decided to DIY the project. It was super simple! I just used acrylic paint to paint each letter into its compartment. Since X doesn't technically have its own beginning sound, I decided it would be alright for it to share with Y. {And, yes I realized with these pictures that U was painted the wrong color -- have to fix that!}
As far as the objects go, I'm still in the process of collecting everything we need. {Update: get a look at our Montessori language objects.} You can also find pre-made kits that include objects for each letter sound. Right now I have a pig, a horse, a goat, and a wolf. Until we complete the set, I'm using wooden coins. These are an OK alternative, but really don't work on the same skills {sound matching} that the language objects do.
To hang the sound object box, I used 3M picture hanging strips. These strips are designed for objects to be taken off and put on more than once. So, it allows the children to take the box off the wall to work, then place it back when they are done. It's a great way to hang something for children that still makes it accessible without damaging the wall.
So far it has been a huge hit with Henry and several of the co-op kids. I think once we get more objects, it will become an even more popular work in the classroom.
Anyone else have success with a sound object box? Have you DIYed it yourself?
