Universally we notice that children are not sophophobic. Naturally, they learn many things from their surroundings whatever they may be.
Montessori methods play an important role in this. It is because children do not need any outside compulsion but rather take interests naturally rather than formal teaching methods.
In my case, I started implementing Montessori ideas and activities when my infants were 4 months old. Now as they reached the age of 17 months, I slightly made changes in implementing Montessori activities for them.
Some Montessori activities I found suitable for my 17-month-old babies are given below in detail.
Activities For A 17 Month Old At Home:
Here are some activities that a 17-month-old loves to do and gradually learn a lot of things: –
Construction: I offered my children wooden or plastic blocks for erecting various structures or towers. Naturally, it promoted creativity and motor skills.
Dancing and Music: I played soft music and cheered my children to dance to it. It ensured motor skills and helped to grow a sense of rhythm.
Exploration: Through this, I assisted my children to know the unknown and see the unseen. For this, I made a sensory bin filled up with beans, rice, beads, small balls, toys, etc. Finally, I urged them to them one by one.
Puzzle Solution: For this, I arranged some puzzles with chunky fittings. Surely, this helped to grow their problem-solving skills.
Artistic Creation— I offered my children some washable non-toxic colors to paint anything they liked. Only I helped them choose colors.
Water Play: Water play was, as if, became a part of my children’s daily activities. Hence, I urged them to play in a shallow tub, filled with water and colorful floating toys.
Best Montessori Activities For A 17 Month Old:
Among Montessori activities for a 17-month-old, I chose the best for fine motor skills, language development, sensory development, and improving independence. Therefore, I found the following Montessori activities as the best options for Montessori learning:
- Fine Motor Skills:
- a) Under my act of encouragement, my children stacked blocks or cups and then scattered them for rebuilding.
- b) I provided my children a peg board for inserting pegs and getting them out again.
- Language Development:
- a) I offered my children some simple books with text and colorful illustrations. Then I urged them to take part in joint reading. Sure enough, it enhanced their vocabulary and reading skills.
- b) I cheered my children to face new things and name them.
- Practical Life Skills:
- a) To develop hand-eye coordination, I taught them how to pour water from one pot to another.
- b) I provided my children with a small broom to sweep and collect them in a dustbin. It promoted a sense of cleanliness.
- c) My children buttoned and unbuttoned dresses or zipped and unzipped jackets while putting them on. It grew a sense of dressing properly.
- Sensory Activities:
- a) I provided my children with various things of different textures and let them feel them and mentioned whether they were soft, hard, smooth, etc.
- b) My children explored sensory bins and named the objects.
DIY Montessori Activities For A 17 Month Old:
Ensuring DIY Montessori activities for a 17-month-old is comparatively easy and educational as well. Now, I put forward the following activities which my children, I am sure, did with interest and learned a lot.
- Matching Games-
Needed articles: various objects and related picture cards.
To play, I urged my children to match cards with objects. This eventually fasted recognition skills.
- Buttoning Ability:
Necessary Articles: Shirts and jackets with big buttons or zips attached.
Interestingly, taught my children to button and unbutton or zip or unzip their dresses. As a result, it helped to grow independence.
- Sorting Games:
Necessary Articles: containers, objects of different shapes, colors, and sizes.
For this, I encouraged my children to sort the articles, according to colors, shapes, and sizes and collect them in the containers. This promoted categorization skills.
- Pasting Stickers:
Necessary Articles: Large stickers and big boards.
It can be one of the most interesting DIY Montessori activities for a 17-month-old. Here, I urged my children to peel and stick the colorful stickers, having some matching points, onto the boards.
There was a storyline. As a result, It brought forth creativity.
- Building Vocabulary: Necessary articles: a basket and different household items.
In this case, I asked the children to explore the stuffed basket with household items and cheered them up to name them with my help. Quite naturally, this boosted their vocabulary and exploration skills.
- Nature Exploration:
Necessary articles: trees, leaves, flowers, fruits.
For this, I needed to take my children for a walk and during that roaming, I showed them how to observe and feel natural objects.
Surely, this came up as interesting. Moreover, this promoted the power of observation and language development.
While performing all these, I always remained assistive and my focus always remained on ‘ Do It Yourself’.
Free Montessori Activities For A 17 Month Old:-
Here, I present some simple easy Montessori activities that my children did without any sort of monotony.
Banging Activity-
For this purpose, I provided my children with a big spoon and different types of pans, pots, drums, and some empty containers.
Then I asked them to beat on them one by one and listened to the sound, different from one another. As a result, it helped to generate a sense of sound and rhythm.
Clothespin Activity– Undoubtedly, this focuses on fine motor skills and handling. Here, I needed to offer my children a basket of clothes pin and pieces of clothes and showed them how to clip and unclip the clothespin.
Later, I urged them to practice as much as they liked.
Besides the above-mentioned activities, other Montessori activities are appropriate for a 17-month-old. There are as follows:-
- Sorting and matching
- Sensory Play
- Object Permanence Box
- Pouring game
- Exploring treasure basket
- Nature walk
- Practical life activities
- Spooning exercise
Finally, I must remind the Montessori-inspired parents of the point that they should not forget to supervise their children while they are in such above-mentioned activities.
Sumanta De is an educator. He has been teaching students for more than 16 years following the principles of Dr.Maria Montessori. He has a 7-year-old son and a 5-year-old daughter.
He is nurturing his children abiding by the principles of Dr.Maria Montessori. His passion for Montessori methods goes beyond the classroom.
Hence, he shares his experiences and insights through a dedicated Montessori blog and a YouTube channel under the name “NewChild Montessori”. He aims to offer valuable guidance to both parents and educators.
Education: M.A. English, Masters in Child Psychology & Bachelor’s Degree in Montessori Teachers Training