Acorns Montessori Rush

Screwdriver set

Gracie enjoys this activity (nearly as much as Malik!). The various screw and bolt sizes make this a good cognitive as well as fine motor activity.

Sensory bags

The kids made sensory bags, so simple to make but provide endless fun. They can see the effects of the light through the paint, make hand prints, new letters, or just enjoy the squishy feel.

A little Maths game

Cormac finally has found someone who enjoys playing the maths games as much as he does! Here hes teaching him the rules and James loves counting and throwing the dice. Great for social skills and cognitive development.

Cormac icing Graces leg

After Grace fell and hurt her knee, Cormac set off and came back with an icepack and a towel. They sat for about 10 mins like nurse and patient Cormac sharing with Grace some good war wound stories!

Settling in...

James took a few mornings to get over the separation moment with his Mom. This day dinosaur art helped distract him and it wasn't long til he was beaming with pride. Well done James!

Button Art.

Another easy and cheap activity that children enjoy. Here Cormac decorates an outline flower picture with buttons.

More separation distrations

Natalia too sometimes finds that moment of saying goodbye to Mom scary. But again a little distraction with Dinosaur art goes a long way.

Coloured Rice

This is a great tabletop activity. Using the rice that we coloured for the Chinese New Year the children enjoy pouring, spooning and filling bottles. Great social activity, develops imagination and language as well as learning how to share a space together.

Bubbles with straws.

Amelia and Annabelle decided to take this activity out together and had loads of fun with our recycled bottles and bubbles.

Washing the toys!

Another great activity for preschoolers that can provide a good half hour of fun. Natalia really enjoyed this activity, rolling up her sleeves and getting stuck right in. Again she is sharing the activity which helps develop her social skills and having fun with others builds her confidence and helps with her emotional development.

Natalia and Cormac

Natalia takes an interest in Cormacs maths game. He is very fond of Natalia and with the help of Orla he is encouraging her to roll the dice. Again great for developing both their social skills. Maria Montessori was a real believer in mixing age groups as they both developed more in each other company.

Train tracks.

They all love at times to play the trains. Malik in particular is drawn to this activity as he loves construction. Recently Emilie and Malik have enjoyed settling down to play trains together for long periods of time. They put a lot of thought into their track designs!

Obstacle Course!

There's been a lot of rain which makes it difficult to always get out. An indoor obstacle course is a great fun way for kids to get a bit of exercise. Great for gross motor skills too and practice in taking turns.

Double Jobbing!

I love this! Abigail is enjoying combining two Montessori activities and no doubt there is some exploring of dimensions going on here in Abigail's head! Classic example of a child being her own teacher.

Where did my car go??

Malik discovering that what goes in does not always come out! Malik loves trying to test out toys in new and different ways!

Hieroglyphics in the garden!

Kids took to making their mark on the fences with their chalk. Love this spontaneous group creativity!

Outdoor Bubbles

Grace and Cormac had so much fun with this activity. Simple fun with bubble mixture and straws.

Queen of the Jigsaws!

When a child is developing a new skill they tend to use repetition as a tool. You will often see a child repeat an activity over and over (eg a toddler repeatedly throwing her spoon on the floor to see if it would keep getting picked up!).Once they feel they have gained what they want from the activity they will suddenly stop and may never go back to it again. Emilie is going through a major Jigsaw phase and is developing her fine motor, visual and cognitive skills.

Mammies Necklace!

Here Alisha is developing her fine motor skills while making her Mom a beautiful coloured necklace. It may seem easy to us but for these little fingers there's a lot of hand-eye coordination skills required to master this.

Dress up Time!

Nothing we love more than Dress up Time! So important for social and emotional development. So much fun..

Doctor Doctor??

Amelia loves dress up and it is such a useful tool for helping Amelia extend her English vocabulary. She is also starting to teach us Polish!!

Lego Buddies.

Anna and Abigail have become very close buddies! Here they're enjoying playing their lego together, no doubt building a castle for the princesses..

Teacher Daisy.

Daisy enjoys the chalkboard, sometimes its pictures and sometimes shes writing something very important!

Button Work.

Emilie using the Dressing Frame to help here with her buttons in everyday life.

More Buttons..

James working away on his Big Buttons Dressing Frame.

Pretty as a picture!

Again another practical life activity. Natalia is polishing a grubby mirror which helps develop fine motor skills and encourage independence and concentration. Job done when she can see a clear reflection!

Exploring Through Art.

Anna is engrossed in her painting, swirling and twirling the brush. Painting is often something the kids want to engage in early in the morning and can be a great activity for children to express their feelings. Beautiful colours Anna!

Fun with Balloons

Celebrating Orla's Birthday with smoothies followed by a bit of fun with balloons in the garden.

Anyone for Dinner?

James prepares me a "little" meal and sets me a table in his restaurant. Pretend play is so important for developing imagination, social and language skills. I'm looking forward to dessert!

Wiggly Worms.

Daisy wasn't always a fan of the garden wigglies but some of the other kids enthusiasm has rubbed off on her (Gracie!!)

Another counting game.

With a game that involves counting animals, Cormac is always going to be involved. Here Amelia partners him as she too loves the numbers, and together they complete game.

Coloured Buttons.

Here Emilie is playing with an activity that involves jars, buttons and colours. She loves a bit of a challenge, and the challenge here is to master opening and closing the different style lids and match the colours. All the while shes learning about counting and numbers 1-5.

More Coloured Buttons.

Blue Tower

Harry takes up his enthusiasm again for the tower building that he had got into in the first term. Great for developing his fine motor skills and his concentration.

Number Fun!

A fun way to learn our numbers. Daisy enjoys this activity and likes to walk up and down it counting her numbers when she is finished.

Pink Tower Triumph!

James is loving all the Montessori activities and always gives a big "TaDa" to express satisfaction at his achievement! Nice job James!

Good Drying Out!

Ellie-Rose is hanging out her basket of washing and takes great care to make sure they're pegged properly. This activity combines imagination and fine motor skill development.

More fun together.

Montessori can also be enjoyed as a group activity. Great for social skills and interpersonal interactions.

Planting Bulbs.

Anna is helping me plant bulbs for the Spring time. Think these poor guys may have been dug up 20 mins later by another enthusiastic gardener!

Archaelogical fun.

Malik loved having the extra attention from Sinead (student) and they spent a long time excavating and chatting. Its great having a new person in for a time as it teaches children about social interactions with other adults.

Tweezers and Lentils.

Here Ellie-Rose is filling the wooden pencil holder with lentils using a tweezers. This simple activity is actually very satisfying for children and develops their fine motor skills and concentration.

More Practical Life.

Natalia is learning how to spoon lentils into her jug and then pour them back into bowl. Great for developing independence, concentration and fine motor skills. Children love these simple activities.

More necklaces for Mom!

Abigail still loves to come in a make a necklace for Mom first thing.

Forever Blowing Bubbles..

Emilie asked her Mom to buy bubbles from Tesco so she could share them with her friends. And true enough thats what she did and she got great satisfaction from having chosen to share all by herself!

More Tweezers.

Here Harry is using a bigger tweezers to move large seeds around. Its a fun activity because if they give the shell a shake they can hear the seeds rattling inside.