A Magical Montessori Christmas!

Shonali Harrison • Dec 18, 2022

Enjoying the magic of Christmas, the Montessori way...

For many of us, Holiday celebrations are one big thing we fondly remember from our childhood. With the Christmas Season's arrival, Eden Prairie Montessori is excited to share new ways to incorporate Montessori teachings at home while doing holiday related activities with our own children. The beautiful thing about Montessori at home is that practical life work really doesn’t require many bells and whistles. You can use what you have on hand at home to create a unique educational experience for your child!

Here are some enticing ideas to inspire your child, all while helping develop their fine motor skills and awaken their senses, just like we like to do here at Eden Prairie Montessori. We hope you enjoy these activities and have fun creating new holiday memories with your family...

MAKING GINGERBREAD COOKIES –

Ways your child can help are: measuring ingredients and pouring into bowls, mixing wet and dry ingredients, rolling dough, using a cookie cutter to cut out the cookie shapes. And don’t forget the really fun part… icing & decorating! Create a new sensory experience using seasonal spices they might not yet be familiar with~ cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger & cloves. Yummy!

ORANGE & CLOVES –

Put out a tray with cloves and clementines for making pomanders: children can push the cloves through the soft peel of the clementines and it smells delicious! A great fine motor activity and a wonderful sensory experience.

MAKE YOUR OWN DECORATIONS –

Kids can help make the house feel truly festive with a few homemade Christmas decorations. Making paper snowflakes is a great activity for hand-eye coordination and developing fine motor skills. String some together to make a garland or display them in the windows.

DECORATING THE CHRISTMAS TREE –

Have baskets of age-appropriate ornaments and decorations readily available to your child. Present it to them and encourage them to decorate the tree at their level as they wish. For smaller children, consider a mini-sized tree: either a real one, a branch of a larger tree placed in a large jar of water as a base, or a cute tiny tree from your local craft store. It takes concentration with hand-eye coordination to open the looped strings on the ornament and then carefully hang it up. A real confidence booster, and your child is sure to love having a Christmas tree of their very own.

CREATING HOMEMADE GIFTS –

Homemade gifts are the perfect way for a child to exercise their motor control and learn new skills while also building a connection with creativity not consumerism, habits we also encourage at Eden Prairie Montessori. There are countless items that a child could make as a gift for a friend or relative. Handmade items should reflect the child’s interests, abilities and creativity as well as relating to the needs of the recipient. Have the child decide what they would like to create.

WRAPPING PRESENTS –

This requires fine motor control, spatial reasoning and the use of multiple tools. Cutting wrapping paper with safety scissors, wrapping and folding paper around the gift, taping, tying ribbon, and sticking on bows are all fun tasks children can do. Writing on gift cards and tags is a chance for your child to work on learning letters of the alphabet and spelling their name.

SETTING THE TABLE –

After a child has helped to cook part of a Christmas meal then he or she can also help to set the table – by placing the plates and cutlery or by decorating it by arranging unlit candles or vases of flowers.

HELPING PREPARE CHRISTMAS DINNER –

Inviting children to join you in the kitchen helps them gain confidence and develop important skills such as hand-eye coordination, reading, and math. Ways they can get involved are: washing & peeling vegetables, mixing, stirring, pouring, carrying ingredients, cracking eggs, ripping bread for stuffing, measuring ingredients, helping follow a recipe, peeling onions and garlic, rinsing dishes in the sink, using an egg beater or whisk, mashing potatoes and whipping cream.

DEMONSTRATING GOOD MANNERS –

Thoughtful ways of communicating in greeting, apologizing, saying please, thank you, and excuse me are all ways in which respect, kindness and caring for one another can accent the bond of family and friends during the holiday season.

GENERAL TIPS -

Make sure all the needed materials are in one place ready to be used; they can then be kept on a tray on a low shelf for the child’s easy access.

Use real objects/tools/utensils, with child-sized tools as the best choice.

Show the child slowly and correctly how to do something.

Observe how your child is working and simply show it again if the child is having trouble doing the activity correctly.

Show the child the way in which to return the lesson to the shelf so that it is ready for next time.

Let the child practice and repeat the activity according to his desire.

Happy Holidays to all of our families and friends, from Eden Prairie Montessori Learning Center. May you have a warm, wonderful family-filled holiday season!