http://www.fridayschildmontessori.com/blog/springtime-activities/ he changing seasons are nature’s way of marking the passing of time, and it’s fun for children to do special activities for each one. And for parents, it’s a way of savouring the time you have with your children – it goes by so fast!

1. Springtime activities
(part 2)
www.fridayschildmontessori.com

2. Make paper daffodils

4. Make a cheerful piece of
springtime artwork with 3-
D daffodils. Find yellow
cupcake frills and glue
these onto a circle or star
shape of brighter yellow.

5. You might need to cut
this out for your child if he
or she isn’t able to do this
solo – or it could be a
good moment for
teaching your child how
to use scissors to cut
things out.

6. Don’t forget to use the
proper Montessori
teaching technique of
demonstrating slowly with
a full explanation,
followed by the child
having a go under
supervision.

7. This flower head can be
used in a larger picture to
make a floral scene, or
you can glue/staple the
flower head onto a stem
of green paper.

8. Or attach them to strings
and hang them at
different lengths from an
old coat hanger to make
a mobile.

9. Plant a garden

11. Even on the Gold Coast,
things slow down a bit in
the garden over winter,
and fire up again during
spring.

12. This is the best time of
year to get your children
planting vegetables and
flowers.

13. Children are much more
likely to eat a vegetable
that they’ve planted and
tended themselves.

14. Things that get really big
are a lot of fun to grow –
sunflowers are popular,
but so are pumpkins and
melons.

15. Start the pumpkins and
melons off indoors in
cardboard containers
(you can plant them
directly without any risk of
small fingers harming the
roots) and move them
outdoors in about mid-
September.

16. Spring cleaning

18. One of the things that
Montessori education
aims to do is to teach
children how to be good
citizens and members of
the community.

19. And knowing how tidy up
is part of this learning
strand. It’s also a means
of self care, which is
another Montessori
principle.

20. Go through those
cupboards with your
children and sort through
things – you’ll be
surprised at what you find
and what your children
have grown out of.

21. Involve your children in
as much as you can –
kids are great at chores
like dusting and vacuum
cleaners are a lot of fun.

22. Who needs a pretend toy
vacuum cleaner when
you can use the real
one?

23. If you have the sort of
vacuum cleaner that has
a long hose and a head
rather than an upright
one, you can have fun
with it and try to catch
each other with the sucky
hose…

24. And if you do any
cleaning that involves
warm soapy water, wear
rubber gloves to protect
your skin and make sure
that lots of bubbles are
involved.

25. Observe a tree

27. If you have a deciduous
tree nearby that loses its
leaves in winter, watch it
come out in leaf again.

28. Check the tree daily,
every two days or weekly
to watch it changing from
bare branches to full
leaves. If the tree has
blossoms, so much the
better!