Grab a cup of tea, round up the household and enjoy seeing your favourite animals! From the Gorilla Rainforest, to Wild Sea, we’re sure you’ll feel nostalgic when you watch this! Plus, join us for a tour of Werribee Open Range Zoo on Saturday 1 August, and Healesville Sanctuary on Saturday 8 August. https://www.zoo.org.au/animals-at-home/ Recommended […]
Age: 4
Coin rubbing
Recommended Age: 3 years and onwards Level of Parent Involvement: Low, the initial exercise requires a short presentation, then you may leave the child to work independently Prerequisites None Materials One of each of Australian currency coins ($2, $1, 50c piece, 20c piece, 10c piece, 5 cent piece) A4 paper Crayons A container to keep the […]
Elastic painting
Recommended Age: 3 years and onwards Level of Parent Involvement: Low, some preparation is required to set the activity up, once the child has been shown they make work independently, providing assistance with cleaning up if necessary Prerequisites None Materials A shallow rectangular container (approximately 1 inch deep and 30cm long and 30cm wide, ideally […]
Phonogram object box
Recommended Age: 4-5 years Level of Parent Involvement: High, the parent must facilitate the first presentation for this activity, low once the child has been shown and can work independently with the prepared slips Prerequisites The child must know all Sand paper letters The child must know some of the sandpaper phonograms, include objects Materials […]
Phonetic object box
Recommended Age: 4 to 5 years Level of Parent Involvement: High, the parent must facilitate this exercise. Once the child has a repertoire of 8-10 sounds of the sand paper letters, the phonetic object box is the first time the child reads. After the initial presentation, parent involvement is low-none when the child works independently. Prerequisites The […]
The human ear 3-part cards
Download Printable: PartsoftheEarNomenclatureCards_ Recommended Age: 4 and ½ years and onwards Level of Parent Involvement: Medium, the parent must facilitate the exercise, showing the child what to do, once the child has been shown, the activity may be completed by the child independently Prerequisites Ideally, the child should be reading before they work with 3-part […]
Naming fractions with oranges
Recommended Age: 4 and ½ to 6 years Level of Parent Involvement: High, Prerequisites The child must be able to count accurately to least ten The child must be able to write numbers 1-10 The child may have had some experience working with the golden beads and know quantities one unit, one ten, one hundred and […]
Exploring measurement using kitchen measuring cups
Recommended Age: 4 to 5 years Level of Parent Involvement: Medium, this initial presentation requires full involvement, once the child has been shown, parent involvement is low when the child works independently Prerequisites The child must have experience in pouring water from a jug The child must be able to follow a sequence of instructions and […]
Identifying geometric solids through touch
Recommended Age: 3 to 4 years Level of Parent Involvement: Medium, this exercise requires the adult to facilitate the game, once the child has been shown they may be able to play the game independently with an older sibling or another family member Prerequisites The child must be able to name all geometric solids from the previous […]
Environment game with geometric forms
Recommended Age: 2 and ½ to 5 years Level of Parent Involvement: Medium during initial presentation, low once the child has been shown and can work independently Prerequisites The child must have some knowledge of the basic 2-dimensional shapes such as triangle, square, circle, rectangle etc (in a Montessori environment the child would have […]
Threading beads
Recommended Age: 2 and ½ to 4 years Level of Parent Involvement: Low, the initial presentation requires the adult to demonstrate, once demonstrated this can be an activity available on the child’s shelf which they may practice independently Prerequisites None Materials A shoe lace with plastic tips at either end A selection of […]
Hand washing
Recommended Age: 2 and ½ years and onwards Level of Parent Involvement: High during the initial presentation, you must stay with the child to show them each step, once the child has been shown and the activity is set up for the child, they may repeat the activity independently Prerequisites The child should have […]
Paper hugs (to send to friends and family in lockdown)
Recommended Age: 3 to 6 years Level of Parent Involvement: Medium to trace around the child’s upper body then low, mostly supervision whilst the child decorates Prerequisites None Materials Large sheet of butcher’s paper or A2 paper (if you don’t have A2 paper, you can tape pieces of A3 or A4 paper together, […]
Orange Squeezing
Recommended Age: 2 and ½ years and onwards When the child begins this exercise as a 2 and ½ year old it is reasonable to expect that they may struggle to complete the exercise from start to finish. The young child doing this exercise is building their concentration through a sequence of steps, it will […]
Roll the die
Recommended Age: 3 and ½ to 4 years Level of Parent Involvement: Low once shown Prerequisites The child must be able to count accurately from 1-6 The child must be able to identify numerals 1-6 Materials A die Pencil, paper and ruler Preparation Create a grid on a piece of paper with 6 squares On […]
Making teen numbers with Lego
Recommended Age: 4 to 5 years Level of Parent Involvement: Medium during initial presentation then low once the child has been shown and works independently Prerequisites The child must be able to recognise numerals 1-10 The child must be able to count accurately from 1-10 The child must be able to connect the numeral quantity with its […]
Exploring the connection between smell and taste
Recommended Age: 3 and ½ to 4 years (or after many experiences with the tasting exercise) Level of Parent Involvement: High, this exercise requires some preparation and full engagement during initial presentation Prerequisites Child must be able to identify the 4 fundamental categories of taste (salty, sweet, sour and bitter) Materials A platter A variety of foods […]
Tasting exercise
Recommended Age: 3 and ½ to 4 years Level of Parent Involvement: High, this exercise requires some preparation and full engagement during initial presentation, low once the chid has been shown and can work independently Prerequisites The child must be able to use an eyedropper The child must have a good level of concentration as this […]
Matching fabrics
Recommended Age: 3 and ½ to 5 years Level of Parent Involvement: High during the initial presentation, then medium observation is required when the child is working independently Prerequisites None Materials Fabrics of great contrast differing in texture and colour but of the same size 8-10 pairs (Spotlight or Lincraft often have fabric scraps for sale) A box […]
Pouring grains
Recommended Age: 2 and ½ to 3 and ½ years Level of Parent Involvement: Medium, to set up and present the activity then low once the child has been shown they may practice independently Prerequisites The child must be able to carry a tray with objects Materials 2 identical jugs (small/child sized) with a wide […]