Sensory play is a big deal in the educational arena. If you are on Pinterest, you will constantly see new Pins featuring themed sensory bins or new recipes for goopy substances for your child to experiment and play with. I do love sensory bins, at home we have a rice table, a bin of cloud sand, and Kinetic Sand, also known as the coolest sand ever. My stepdaughter can’t walk past the Kinetic Sand without scooping it up into a ball, then letting it ooze and melt over her hand. Obviously, sensory materials meet a need in all of us, and can be highly addicting, the question is, how can they fit into a Montessori classroom.
The Montessori Sensorial curriculum allows the child to explore and categorize their world based on their senses. Lessons are presented using specific materials, each which focuses on one particular dimension. So this is not a new concept to the Montessori classroom, actually it is the foundation and the basis of the pedagogy, and it extends beyond the Sensorial area of the class, it is part of all the curriculum areas.Continue reading “meaningful sensory experiences in the montessori classroom & connections to home”