Exploring Weight {Sensorial Montessori Activity}

http://www.smilinglikesunshine.com/2012/10/exploring-weight-sensorial-montessori.html



A couple of weeks ago I prepared these treasure boxes for an activity to explore weight.
As you may know, sensorial activities are very important in the Montessori philosophy. Exploring the weight by the sense of touch is called the baric sense. In a Montessori classroom, children are supplied with baric tablets to develop and refine their baric senses.

Here are my Baric Chests:


Materials:


A blindfold (optional)
A mat
4 sets of wooden chests, filled with pebbles and bubble wrap to ensure the pebbles do not make any sound. Each set consists of two chests. Each of the wooden chests is plain and the same colour. To mark the same weight chests, stickers are used.
The weight of the sets is as follows:
The lightest set is empty, each chest is 40gr, colour coded with a green sticker,
The second set consists of chests each measuring 72gr, colour coded with yellow stickers,
The third set consists of chests each measuring 104gr, colour coded with orange stickers,
The heaviest set consists of chests each measuring 136gr, colour coded with blue stickers.
The difference between each set is 32gr.


Direct objective: Developing and refining the baric sense so that small differences in weight can be differentiated by the child.
Indirect objective:
· Becoming a good observer
· Gaining a perception of weight,
· Gaining awareness in differentiating the differences between weights
· Developing the language: At the end of the activity the child will have learnt the words: heavy, heavier, heaviest, light, lighter, lightest, as heavy/light as
Advance preparation for the lesson: Before starting the activity both the teacher and the student wash their hands as this helps sensitise the fingers.
PRESENTATION:
1. The teacher brings the materials to the rug. The teacher and the child sit opposite each other.
2. The teacher then takes out the lightest and the heaviest chests.
3. S/he puts the chests on his/her hands: palm up, arms relaxed.
4. The teacher shows the child how to weigh the chests, by moving both hands, with palm facing outward in an up down motion. The teacher moves her arms up and down slightly, to perceive the differences in weight.
5. S/he places them on the mat and invites the child to feel the weights of the chests
6. S/he puts the chests on the child’s finger tips, and then asks “Which one is lighter?” “Which one is heavier?” The teacher removes the chests and puts them on the mat
7. Carrying on with different chests, the teacher asks the child if they are heavy, light or are the same. The teacher continues removing the chests and putting them on the mat next to previously used chests as the child answers the questions.
8. When all chests are done,the teacher starts the activity again. This time s/he asks the child “Can you give me the heavier chest?” “Can you give me the lighter chest?” repeating until all chests are estimated.
9. The child takes off the blindfold and the teacher explains what has been done.
Differentiation:
If the child does not feel secure and does not want to use the blindfold, s/he can do the activity by averting his/her eyes.
Older children can use a scale to check if they have sorted the chests correctly.

As a control of error element, I added stickers on the bottom of the chests.

Jumping Cups

http://bkids.typepad.com/bookhoucraftprojects/2009/09/project-33-jumping-cups.html

What you'll need:
*2 disposable cups (paper or plastic will both work)
*2 rubber bands
*scissors
*different colors of paper scraps
*double-sided tape
*clear tape

Step one:
Use different scraps of paper, and cut out the shapes that you will need to decorate your cup as a flying rocket (or jumping frog, rabbit, kangaroo, etc.)
Step two:
Cut both rubber bands so that they are no longer circles. Tie one knot on each end of both rubber bands.
Step three:
Cut four small slits into the rim of one of the cups. (One cup will be used as is, so do not cut both cups.) Then stretch the rubber bands across the rim of the cup and slide each end into one of the slits. The knots should be enough to hold the rubber bands in place.

Step four:
Use double-sided tape to decorate your rubber band cup and turn it into a rocket ship.
Step five:
Use two pieces of clear tape to make two small tabs on opposite sides of the cup. You will hold these tabs to launch your rocket.
Step six:
Your rocket is ready to go. Place the regular cup on the ground. Put the rocket cup over it and pull down on the tabs. Then let go to see your rocket fly. Please supervise your children while using this toy!