I have been reading up on Montessori since the birth of little Milkie, and am really interested in the theory itself, but didn't really get to do it. Little Milo will be 2 years old soon and since we wouldn't be sending him for any playgroup till next year, I've decided to try and do more activities with him.
Tracing the alphabet - this is a very simple and easy way to make a Montessori material. Basically you create cards, with the alphabets in the middle in another material (usually sandpaper), and then you get the children to trace out the letter with their fingers. This will actually help the child to understand how the alphabet is formed. There are tons of ways to make them but this was how I created it:
2 blank cards
Sensory materials e.g. Sandpaper, felt cloth etc.
Glue
Scotch tape / Double sided tape
Pen knife / Scissors
Firstly, I traced out the alphabet onto 1 blank card, and then I cut out the alphabet using a pen knife. For the alphabet, I did print out on a piece of paper first before I traced it onto the blank card. If you can do it free-hand, feel free to do so.
Cut the sensory material slightly bigger than the size of the alphabet and put it between the 2 cards. The sensory material can be anything so long it's not too thick, otherwise it might be difficult to secure the 2 cards together. I didn't want to simply just use sandpaper because I find it more interesting to let them feel different materials.
Secure the sensory material and cards with double sided tape/glue, and/or scotch tape.
Once done, it will look something like this. For this one, I tried using felt cloth and a crumpled paper. Did try using those foam paper but it was a little too thick for me to secure it as my blank card wasn't really big.
I gave it to little Milo, and taught him what the letter is. And at the same time, I taught him the sound of it. He seems to like it and after a few days of trying for just a short while, he started tracing the letter on his own.
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