Sensorial Materials Creation Project for Montessori Teachers

We perceive the world around us using our sense organs from the first day of our life. Our life is a seamless stream of sensory experiences. All these sensory experiences are a marvel to the children. Therefore, they wonder about these initial experiences that we have lost over time. Montessori aims to create in the child an understanding of the world around them. In other words, they try to arrange more experiences in which a child can experience various sights, smells, sounds, tastes and textures and gain knowledge from such activities. It is the duty of a Montessori teacher to arrange such activities. Hence, the sensorial materials creation project for Montessori teachers is an important part of the curriculum.

Here are some sensorial materials creation projects for Montessori teachers. Refer to these notes if you are starting your sensorial materials creation project for Montessori teachers to get some ideas and inspiration. Let us look at some Montessori teacher projects and learn how to make DIY Montessori materials.

Click here to learn more about the principles behind Montessori sensorial materials!

Sensorial Materials Creation Project for Montessori Teachers: Introduction

Creativity, innovation, and experiential learning are central to Montessori education. The goal of the Montessori classroom setting is to encourage self-motivation, independence, and child-centred learning. Using handcrafted materials that promote inquiry and discovery is a fundamental element of the authentic approach to education. This is why the Montessori teacher’s training curriculum necessitates a sensorial materials creation project for Montessori teachers.  Montessori sensory activities are an inevitable part of the training curriculum.

Using a child’s senses is one of the main principles of Montessori education, and this is where sensory materials are effective. Colour, sound, weight, texture, and smell are just a few of the ways these materials help kids develop their senses. Handmade puzzles that require students to match textures or patterns, like “tactile puzzles,” are one example.

First and foremost, it’s critical to comprehend the core beliefs of Montessori education and how sensory materials support learning. Children learn best through experiential learning that stimulates their senses and encourages inquiry and discovery, according to the Montessori philosophy. Children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development is aided by the engaging and meaningful experiences that sensory materials are specifically made to offer.

Learn about Sensorial materials for Montessori and how to create activities using them!

Types of Sensorial Materials and Their Uses in Montessori Classrooms

Montessori sensory tools are important in Montessori classroom materials. Montessori sensory materials give kids strong invitations to explore their senses, engaging all five while capturing their attention and igniting their curiosity. These well-made tools are more than just toys. They inspire all kinds of adventures and serve as effective educational resources. Learn all these basics so that you can use them during Montessori materials creation.

Sensory Bottles

These are transparent glass or plastic bottles that are filled with various substances like beads, glitter, sand, or rice. Youngsters can investigate motion, sound, and colour by shaking and manipulating the bottles. DIY sensory bottles can be created by experimenting with various materials and combinations or by following online tutorials.

Texture Boards

These are panels or boards with various surfaces or textures, like fabric, carpet, or sandpaper. Kids can experiment with tactile sensations and pick up vocabulary to explain various textures. DIY texture boards can be created by modifying pre-made panels or by affixing various materials to a board.

Smelling Jars

These are jars that contain fragrances like vanilla, lavender, or spices. Through sensory exploration, children can learn about various smells and how to recognize them. You can find pre-made aroma kits to modify or fill jars with various scents to create your DIY-smelling jars.

Sound Boxes

These are boxes filled with various sound-producing objects, like marbles, bells, or beans. Children are capable of developing auditory discrimination, recognizing and matching sounds, and differentiating between sources. DIY sound boxes can be created by assembling different objects that produce distinct sounds and placing them in containers or fastening them to a board.

Sorting Trays

Look for toys or small objects that have unique qualities, like texture, colour, or shape. Give your child containers or sorting trays and instruct them to arrange the items according to certain criteria.

Texture Maps

You can create varied textures on maps using materials like cereal grains, soil types etc and use it to teach students geographical knowledge.

Tools and Resources Needed to Create Sensorial Materials

Age-appropriateness and safety should be taken into account when making a sensory materials project. Use non-toxic materials and keep an eye on kids while they are playing. Some of the materials you can use for the projects are listed below.

• Cardboard
• Paper
• Colours
• Sandpaper
• Everyday household items like grains, seeds, vegetables, and fruits. Flowers etc
• Wooden and plastic trays and bowls
• Yarn and needles
• Glue
• Glitter
• See-through bottles

While making the materials be careful that objects that are directly given into a child’s hand must not have the risk of choking hazard. If the item is small, then make sure the container in which they are put ( like a sound box or sensory bottle) is closed very tightly.

Sensorial Materials Creation Project for Montessori Teachers

Now we have discussed the initial ideas about Montessori sensory materials. Here are some examples from which you can select a sensorial materials creation project for Montessori teachers. Let us look at a few ideas for a sensorial materials creation project for Montessori teacher’s training.

Sorting Tray Project

Sorting tray creation is a very versatile sensorial materials creation project for Montessori teachers.

• Collect materials of various textures.
• Cut or glue them to certain shapes of small size.
• Put them all together into the tray.
• Ask children to see and feel them and sort them according to some criteria.

You can make use of the following ideas for your sorting tray project.

• You can set the sorting tray either according to colour or texture.
• You can even mix these two sensory experiences in this activity.
• The tray itself can be a material in this activity.
• You can ask children to see and feel both the samples and trays and ask them to put a particular colour object in the tray with a specific texture or vice versa. For example, take a red material and put it in a wooden tray and take the blue material and put it in a plastic tray.
• Another way you can do this is by asking children to feel the texture of both trays and objects and match them by putting similar textured objects into trays with similar objects.

Sensory Bottles Project

You can create a sensory bottle project for your sensorial materials creation project for Montessori teachers. This can be done by filling the bottle with materials and asking the child to shake, observe and manipulate the bottle in some way to understand the material inside the bottle.

• Fill them with different types of grains and try to identify their differences.
• Fill them up with different types of soils and try to find the differences in their features.
• Fill them up with different levels of water and tell the children to observe the difference in sounds it produces.

Texture Boards Project

Prepare the texture board using coloured cardboard and various materials.

• Stick various kinds of fabrics on the board and ask the children to touch and observe the differences in their shine and texture. This method can be used to help the child understand different fabric names and how to differentiate various fabrics according to their texture, shine strength etc.
• You can stick various types of soils on texture boards and talk about various types of soils and where you find them. You could take them outside the classroom and conduct an activity where you ask the children to identify which texture board matches the soil texture in the Montessori playground. You could also ask the child to memorise the texture of soil and ask them to find the type of soil near their home.

Texture Map Project

A texture map project is something like a texture board project. In this project, you can select a map according to your wish and then stick a textured material in each region. For example, you can stick rice grains in the Kerala region, Cotton in the Deccan region, wheat in the northern plains etc. In this way, you can start geography lessons.

Smelling Jars Project

Some smelling jar projects include the following.

• Fill the jars with juices of various fruits and ask children to smell them and match them with the corresponding fruit.
• Fill the jars with various flowers and ask the child to smell and identify the flower.
• Fill the jars with various local food items and ask them to identify them. This will help them be more curious about the culinary culture of the region.

Sound Box Project

Given below are some ideas that you can use for making a sound jar for your sensorial materials creation project for Montessori teachers.

• Fill the jars with coins and currencies of various values and ask children to shake the jar and find what they are. In this way, you can get them started with elementary financial skills that as learning the denominations of various coins and currencies. But be careful while handling these as there are swallowing risks when it comes to small objects and children.
• Another activity you can do is to fill the sound boxes with various seeds of plants. In this way, you can draw children’s interest to the plants and the science related to them.

Geometric Shapes Project

In this project, you can make geometric shapes using cardboard and ask the children to find items of similar shapes from their surroundings.

Colour tablets Project

In this project, print out colours of various kinds or create painted papers and paste them on rectangular cardboard pieces to make colour tablets. Then ask children to select a tablet they like and find objects of similar colour from the surroundings.

Documenting and Presenting Your Sensorial Materials Project

The process of accurately and systematically recording important project details is known as project documentation. Project documentation is the collection of all project-related documents created during the project process. The first thing you have to do is understand the purpose of such a report and who is going to read it. While documenting the sensorial materials creation project for Montessori teachers try to follow the format given below.

• Title page
• Abstract
• Acknowledgement
• Contents
• Figures and Tables list
• Introduction
• Literature review
• Requirements
• Design
• Implementation and test
• Evaluation
• Inference

You might have an idea about what you are going to do for your Montessori project during the first few months. Then you have to find books and read about the topic and note down important points. Then you have to make a hypothesis and design your project.  After completing the project model, you can take it to the Montessori training classrooms and test how well they were received by the children there. Then you can take down the observations. Then you can compare your observation with the hypothesis you arrived at with the help of your reading and how well they match or mismatch with each other, hence arriving at an inference.

Sensorial materials creation project for Montessori teachers is a very important part of Montessori teacher’s training. It plays a huge role even when it comes to placement opportunities. This section of the blog might seem incomplete to you. But what if you can get an expert mentor who will help with project documentation from the platform you are buying the course? Entri Elevate Montessori teachers training course provides you best mentors and even helps you with the placement after the completion of the course.

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 Sensorial Materials Creation Project for Montessori Teachers: Conclusion

Children are given access to a world of sensory exploration through Montessori sensorial materials. They also offer them interesting, practical learning opportunities. These resources help young students improve their senses, cognitive capacities, and problem-solving abilities.