In this period of health emergency when schools are closed, it is very important to know how to invent something that can help our children have fun, perhaps keeping them engaged in an educational way. Playful-recreational activity plays a very important role in the development of the child. Through the experience of play, children learn perseverance and to have confidence in their abilities. Don’t worry, there’s no need to organize big things to entertain one or more children.
Let’s see what are the 10 activities to do at home based on the Montessori method and divided into age groups:
Games to play at home with children aged 1 and 2
If you are at home with your small children, do not worry, there are many games to play. This is the age in which playful-recreational activities are fundamental for intellectual development and thanks to them, the child is able to develop his own affective and relational potential.
1 – The big hedgehog
It is well known that children at this age begin to become familiar with shapes and sizes. One of the most fun games to play at home is that of the “big hedgehog”. Take a colander, turn it upside down and show the child how to insert spaghetti into all the holes. In no time he will have built a nice hedgehog of wheat!
2 – The game of decanting
Arrange bowls containing chickpeas, lentils, pasta and flour on the kitchen table. Give your child a small cup, spoon, and encourage him to transfer the different materials from the full bowl to an empty bowl. Maybe try to start with the larger materials and work your way up to the smaller ones. This type of activity can be very informative because doing the left-to-right movement or the other way around for left-handed children will hone skills that will come in handy for writing.
Games to play at home with children aged 3 to 5
Play is essential because it is the way children know the world and grow up. It is not something that fills the gaps between one activity and another, but it is the activity par excellence that they use to discover everything that surrounds them. Remember that the jobs that we can propose will also serve to stimulate the skills necessary for school: fine motor skills, orientation in space, the concepts of above and below, before and after, left and right.
3 – Seated hide and seek
Who among us has never played hide and seek as a child? This is the typical example of a game to play at home, in which your child, in addition to having fun, acquires the skills we listed earlier. Hide an object in the room: in a closet or vase, or on a shelf. The child will have to find it by starting to ask questions such as: “Is it under the bed?”, “Is it inside the wardrobe?” start like this and then change roles.
4 – Take good aim and hit the mark!
Together with your child, draw rings on stiff cardboard and paint them in bright colors . Turn over a chair and try to center the legs with the rings. Here is a really simple but brilliant way to spend a different afternoon full of fun.
5 – Guess the missing object
A simple game to train your memory, but beware it’s not as easy as it sounds.
Put some objects on the table, start with four and then gradually increase. Make the child observe them carefully then when he turns you take one or more off. The child will have to guess which objects are missing. This will help develop his memory better.
Are you an empathic person with a strong sense of responsibility and do you have a deep sensitivity towards children?
