Dr. Maria Montessori was a scientist, educator and doctor during her time in Italy. Through scientific observation, she concluded what was the best way for the children to absorb knowledge and she modelled her education system after that. With the Montessori method, children learn and increase their knowledge by using concrete materials where exploring and cognition are linked. There are multi-sensory materials that will be used in this activity to develop specific skills of the child. Understanding comes through the child’s own experience with these materials. These experiments allows the promotion of children’s ability to find things out for themselves. Here are two fun experiments for you and your child to conduct at home! We hope you have a wonderful time trying these out together. Activity 1: Sink & Float Materials Needed: 1 clear jug of water Large container, tub or bucket Heavy items found at home (coin, eraser, key etc.) Light items found at home (Ball, pom-poms, Lego, etc.) How to do Activity 1 Step 1: Lay out the materials on a table Explain to your child that they will be conducting an experiment about sinking and floating Discuss that they will be finding materials around the house to drop into the container Once they have found the materials, lay these out on the table together Step 2: Invite your child to fill up the container with water (just above half level). Guide them the first time you try this activity, if necessary. Show the item to your child and ask them to guess whether it will sink or float. Let them drop it into the water. Step 3: Now let your child observe and explore. What do they think? Isn’t it interesting what sinks and what floats? What else can we experiment with? This experiment should be repeated. Try it with different materials, themes, containers and so on! Have fun! Suggested items for a sink or float experiment: Items that sink Metal utensils Coins Stones Toy car/truck Keys Glass gemstones or marbles (not suitable for toddlers) Items that float Duplo/Lego Stick or popsicle stick Corks Bathtub toys Foam shapes Crayon Rubber ball Activity 2: Blow up a balloon without using your mouth! Materials Needed: 2 or more clear containers (e.g. a reused container as pictured here) 1 cup Balloons Vinegar Baking soda Funnel Food colouring (optional) How to do Activity 2 Step 1: Lay the materials out on a table. Explain to your child that they are doing an experiment on how to blow up balloons without using their mouths to inflate them. They will also be able to observe which balloon blows up faster and slower! Allow them to measure out two separate measures of vinegar – one with less vinegar and the other with more. Fill each bottle with the vinegar using the funnel. OPTIONAL: you may add a few drops of food colouring in the bottle. This will aid the comparison portion of the experiment. Step 2: Invite your child to stretch the balloon together. Insert the funnel in the balloon hole. Now fill a balloon with more baking soda and the other balloon with less baking soda. Step 3: Place and guide your child to stretch the mouth of the balloon over the bottle hole. Be very careful and try not to let the baking soda inside spill! Once done, your child can lift the balloon up. Be prepared for the balloon to inflate! From the experiment, let your child observe and explore what happens when the baking soda mixes with vinegar. Explain to your child that when we add baking soda to vinegar, a chemical reaction occurs and releases a large quantity of carbon dioxide, enough to inflate the balloon. Now, do the same with the second balloon and bottle. Let them observe which balloon blew up quicker and slower. Repeat the experiment again!

Montessori is a type of education that focuses on the child’s natural development. It is based on the idea that children are naturally curious and want to learn. Young children love making guesses. They enjoy guessing what an object might be, or what might happen next in a story. This is because they are constantly learning about their world and trying to make sense of it. Guessing games, such as ‘What’s in the Box?’, are a great way to develop their memory and sensory skills. Here is a guide to making your own guessing box at home! Materials Needed: Cardboard box (flaps folded in or removed on one side) Pencil Cup as a round stencil (alternatively, you can use a tin lid, bowl etc.) Pen knife An old t-shirt Objects of varying textures or interesting features (e.g. smooth, rough, wet, slimy, fuzzy etc.) How to do the Activity Step 1: Using the cup as a stencil, mark a circle with a pencil. Do this on both sides of the box. Step 2: Cut out the circles on both sides of the box with a pen knife. Step 3: On the side with flaps folded in or removed, cover the box with the old t-shirt. Tuck the sleeves into the circle cut-out. Step 4: Place the objects in the sensory box and get guessing!

Going grocery shopping is a fun and effective way to practice practical life skills in our daily life. We always encourage involving children in all aspects of meal preparation, and grocery shopping helps children understand the entire process of a meal prep – right down from planning out the menu, buying the ingredients and all the way to eating it. Involving children in meal prepping helps children gain ownership to their decisions which in turn leads to them being more receptive to trying out new foods. Montessori at Home: Grocery shopping Step 1. Plan out the meal Discuss with your child the meal they are interested in. For this example, we will be making tuna sandwiches! Draw/Write out the ingredients needed for the meal e.g. bread, can of tuna, lettuce, cheese Have a conversation about the types of food on the list – how are they made or where are they from? Are they good for us? Help them to organise their list according to the sections in the supermarket. Where might they be found? Why are they grouped together? What things do the items have in common? You can even discuss with your child the mode of transport needed to get to the supermarket! Step 2: Getting the ingredients needed for the planned meal  Go slow and be patient – do not rush through getting the ingredients. Children need time to navigate their way round the supermarket. Do allow them to refer to the grocery list often – have they found everything? Check off items on the list as they fill the basket This is also a good way to use Mathematic skills in a practical way –count the items needed or count the money during check out Step 3: Preparing the meal at home  For younger children, we recommend laying out the ingredients and assisting them to assemble the dish Older children can help with preparation of ingredients – getting items out of the fridge, cleaning vegetables, mixing the sandwich filling and so on Place all the items to be assembled neatly and let your child put it together! Grab the opportunity to talk about the meal – how much cheese should go in the sandwich? Would they like more vegetables or filling? Step 4: Enjoy!  It’s time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labour. Don’t forget some words of encouragement: You did it! Is it delicious? How do you feel? Are you proud of yourself? We have a number of other Montessori at Home recipes to try out: Vegetables: https://houseonthehill.com.sg/montessori-at-home-dinner-preparation-vegetables/ Fruity Smoothies: https://houseonthehill.com.sg/fruity-smoothies/ Fruit Skewers: https://houseonthehill.com.sg/montessori-at-home-santa-claus-fruit-skewer Sandwiches: https://houseonthehill.com.sg/national-day-red-and-white-sandwich/ Chocolate Truffles:  https://houseonthehill.com.sg/christmas-truffles/

Montessori at Home: Dental Hygiene “Any child who is self-sufficient, who can tie his shoes, dress or undress himself, reflects in his joy and sense of achievement the image of human dignity, which is derived from a sense of independence.” (Maria Montessori, The Child in the Family) Practical Life Activities are a key component of a Montessori education. These activities draw on a child’s natural requirement to perform everyday tasks and purposefully develops motor skills, concentration and a sense of responsibility while they learn to perform the activities. Care of self covers one of the main areas of development, other activities within this include getting dressed, washing oneself, cooking and much more. This Montessori at Home activity takes you and your child into the bathroom, and helps you to prepare them for a lifetime of taking care of their teeth. Dental hygiene is essential for children to understand, particularly as poor dental hygiene can affect their learning, for example when they have toothache and infections. Dentists emphasize that the earlier we begin forming good dental hygiene habits among the children, the better. It is also a good way to enhance children’s independence and self-care. For these reasons, it is important for parents to promote good dental hygiene habits with their children and avoid painful cavities. In the classroom, we use several different methods to introduce such an activity to a student. These range from the practical – learning to perform the actual task, to fun – games, songs and storytelling. Our teachers have adapted this approach into suggestions that you can use at home. Here are the tips for how we can guide our children to cavity-free teeth while enjoying good dental hygiene at home. Help Young Children Practice Brushing & Make It A Good Experience We want our children to develop and maintain a routine, this starts with brushing their teeth in the morning and night. You may like to join them and model brushing techniques by brushing your teeth right along with your child. – Choosing a toothbrush & toothpaste: Encourage your child to choose their own toothbrush from the store. Your child might prefer to have a variety of different tubes and flavours of toothpaste which they can choose to use for day and night. – Independent brushing: Use a visual 2-minute sand timer and practice tooth brushing for two minutes Provide a low mirror so that your child can see their teeth easily Include safe and stable steps up to the basin so that your child can  easily reach the taps to turn the water on and off  independently. Another option for parents is to creat a child-size sink for the child to use Taking your child to the dentist – Take your child to the dentist when their first milk teeth appear. This helps the child to become familiar with the environment and get to know the dentist. A dentist can help prevent decay and identify any oral health problems at an early stage. Opening the child’s mouth for the dentist to take a look is useful practice, and will come in handy for future preventative care. – When you visit the dentist, be positive and make the trip fun. This will help to stop your child from worrying about future visits. – Visiting a dentist allows the child to become familiar with dental procedures and tools, as well as identifying the dentist as a community helper. Keeping your child’s teeth healthy Children with pain in their mouth or who have missing teeth may have difficulty chewing, which could affect a healthy diet. – A poor diet will affect their ability to learn and to concentrate in school. Encourage your child to eat healthy and non-sugary food and drinks. We recommend allowing them to choose the fruits, vegetables and healthy snacks that they like to eat. You should also include them in preparing their own snack. – Children can use a model set of teeth, a toothbrush and a poster to practice proper brushing of teeth. This activity is fun and at the same time ensuring that the child covers all the teeth and all sides of the teeth. – Engage your child with some books which talk about going to the dentist, how can dentists help, the way of brushing teeth, and why do baby teeth fall out. Additionally, there are interesting songs which your child can sing as they brush their teeth to add more fun! One of the primary aims of the Practical Life exercises is to help children become more independent as they acquire the ability to take care of their own bodies. These are essential health and social skills that they will require as they grow and develop. It is also a joy to watch them feel that sense of accomplishment as they master a task and start to take care of things for themselves. Try this activity out at home and let us know how it goes!

Inspired by https://www.pinkstripeysocks.com/2016/01/paper-blossoms-Chinese-New-Year-Kids-Craft.html Plum Blossoms are one of the most popular flowers that are important Lunar New Year symbols of prosperity. They signify courage, hope, beauty, purity, and prosperity. This activity promotes your child’s creativity in creating while working on their fine motor skills. Not forgetting the high-quality fun time you are going to have with them! Paper Plum Blossoms Materials Needed Art Tissue Paper Scissors Twigs Hot glue gun/white/craft glue Vase Steps: Step 1. You are going to need twigs for your paper plum blossoms. Have a walk in the park with your child to collect them. Step 2. Cut out large squares/ rectangles from the tissue paper. If your child is confident in using the scissors, you may also get them to do the cutting. Step 3. Demonstrate to your child and invite him/her to make the flowers by crumpling the tissue paper. Step 4. Stick them up using either the hot glue gun or craft glue. If you are using a hot glue gun, be sure to exercise safety and caution. You may place the twigs in a vase first and then glue the flowers onto them. Tips on how to hot glue with your child: Allow your child to dab on the glue while you push the flowers on. Remind your child not to touch the silver tip. Demonstrate and teach your child to touch tip of the glue gun to the twig. Squeeze the gun and then let go and pull the tip off. Step 5. Arrange your masterpieces and discuss with your child a good spot for them to be displayed. The House on the Hill team would like to wish everybody celebrating, a very happy and prosperous Lunar New Year! 新年快乐！

Christmas is in the air and many families are gearing up to celebrate the occasion or the end of the year. Whilst you are in the kitchen planning your festive menus, it’s a good time to involve the children in the planning, shopping and preparation for the feasting to come. Here’s a healthy and delicious Christmas-themed cookery Montessori at Home activity for you to make with them. Preparing simple dishes with your child have many benefits. Besides spending quality time with your child, it is also a great way to introduce new fruits or food to them. Some children need more time to accept and try new food, this is perfectly normal. In school, our teachers use positive reinforcement to encourage trying new foods, we recommend parents do the same. Santa Claus Fruit Skewers Ingredients/Equipment Needed Fruits such as banana, strawberry, grapes Mini Marshmallows Chocolate bits (eyes) Butter knife Chopping Board Skewers Steps: Step 1. Cut the fruits into smaller slices Tip: let older children do this by themselves with supervision. We recommend parents pre-cut the fruit for younger children and lay them out to be assembled. Step 2. Insert the banana through the skewer. Step 3. Next up, the strawberry and marshmallow (above and below the strawberry) Step 4. Place the grape to make the “mouth” portion. Step 5. Next, place the chocolate bits as “eyes” and the Santa Claus appears! Do look out for the look of pride on their faces when they have completed this task! Perhaps you can help them to present the skewers nicely on a tray or plate to share with the rest of the family? We recommend making lots of skewers as they’re delicious and will be a hot favourites when they’re served! We wish all our families and friends a very happy and joyous season!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Sound familiar? Are you able to guess the title of the song? Indeed, the season we’ve been waiting all year long for has finally arrived! It’s an exciting time for the children, what with the lights, parties, markets and countdowns; not to mention gifts and blessings for those marking the occasion. We are sure adults feel likewise ! This month’s Montessori at Home activity is a countdown craft project. This practical craft has many underlying concepts such as number recognition and counting that children will learn in the process and reinforce. Writing skills are also required and it is a way to encourage children to write with pleasure and joy. Frosty Snowman Craft Countdown Materials Needed White toilet roll/paper towel core (to be pre-cut by an adult) Magazine paper (snowman’s hat) Cutting tools (pen knife, scissors) Markers (black and orange) Optional: glue, string Steps: Step 1. Cut through the pre-cut cores. Step 2. Chain the cores by stretching open and hook them onto each other. Step 3. Cut the snowman’s hat out of magazine paper. Adults may assist the child in drawing and cutting the hat out. Step 4. Attach the hat onto the first core either by pasting or you can also make an incision in the middle of the core and insert through it. Draw the snowman’s facial features with the markers. Step 5. Write numbers 1 to 25. On the other side, you may opt to write in another language or leave it blank. Step 6. Hang up the completed snowman and remove one core as each day passes! There you have it! Let’s countdown to the days to Christmas and the New Year together! You may also use a similar idea to countdown to any special occasions that your child is looking forward to. Most importantly, enjoy the process with your child and spending the quality time together! Season’s Greetings from the House on the Hill team!

Colours are everywhere and it is important for your child to explore colours. Early identification of colours helps to create the cognitive link between visual clues and words. Some other benefits of colour recognition include: boosting language skills because learning to identify and describe colours improves the child’s ability to communicate and express themselves. Learning colours strengthens math skills, helping a child learn how to sort, organize, categorize, and compare. In fact, the ability to identify colours is considered a marker and milestone in a child’s cognitive process¹. 4 Beautiful Locations Islandwide At House on the Hill, we strive to embody the true Montessori method and philosophy in every lesson and activity. Book A Tour This month, our Montessori at Home blog will be focused on colour exploration. This fun activity from our infant NIDO is especially for parents to work with children of infant age. From birth to age 3, your child’s brain is developing more rapidly than at any other time. In fact, more learning is taking place now than at any other stage of development. Dr. Maria Montessori created a philosophy of education that begins at birth, when infants’ minds are already busy absorbing their environment and learning about the world. This activity is an easy way to introduce colour to little ones, and it makes a very pretty craft as well! To begin, parents should introduce primary colours (red, blue and yellow). Secondary colours can be introduced next. Don’t forget to involve your child! For example, include them when you’re mixing colours. Isn’t it interesting to see how the colours change? In terms of mediums, think outside of the box. Paintbrushes may not be the only medium for your child to use. In this activity, we decided to use a flower instead! What other unusual materials might you have in the house that you can use? Colour Exploration Materials Needed Baby wipes Flower stalk (we opted for a big and many petaled rose here) Rubber bands Paint Steps: Step 1. Lay the working materials out Step 2. Introduce the colours that are going to be used in the activity to your child Step 3. Using the flower stalk, encourage your child to paint on the wet wipe. You can tie the wipe at both ends or open it up for your child to paint on it. Step 4. Talk to your child about what is happening. Early language exposure is very important for developing infants and helps them to develop linguistically. Step 5. Once their masterpieces have been created, remember to encourage not praise! Do they feel proud of what they have made? Perhaps there is somewhere at home that they can display their work? Super simple but effective! Try the different iterations and levels at your own leisure. As they progress from infant to toddler, we recommend moving on to the next stage of sorting colours with our Colours Sorting Fun Montessori at Home activity. Sources: https://munsell.com/color-blog/teaching-colors-to-children https://kidactivitieswithalexa.com/en/teaching-colors-to-a-toddler/

Isn’t time just flying by? It will be the end of the year soon! As we welcome the month of November in a few days’ time, some of us will be preparing to celebrate a festival that will be taking place too. Can you guess what festival this is? Clue: It is also known as the Festival of Lights! Did you guess Deepavali? That is correct!  In the first week of November, we will be observing an important festival celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains around the world – Deepavali, also known as the Festival of Lights or Diwali. At House on the Hill, we will be sharing on how it is celebrated around the world and in Singapore. Preparations for Diwali begin long before the actual day – homes are cleaned, new traditional clothes are purchased, sweet and savoury snacks are prepared, oil lamps are lit and doorways are decorated with beautiful intricate patterns (Rangoli) using coloured rice powder or rice! Rangoli is commonly seen in this festival to welcome blessing into the households. It also signifies happiness and positivity. On the actual day, families visit the temples for ceremonies and lighting of candles before visiting their relatives and friends with good wishes and blessings! One of the ways we help the children to learn about the festival is to engage in fun craft activities together. As we sit together to make this craft, we can discuss the festival at the same time. It is a wonderful way for the children to experience and understand the significance of the celebration. This month for Montessori at Home, we will be trying a rangoli craft activity! This craft activity utilises cutting and will help to develop your child’s fine motor skills. Exploring different types of art medium such as chalk allows children to build on their creativity and imagination. The materials for rangoli craft are simple and easy to find – a pair of scissors, squared paper (or reuse any paper with a blank surface that you don’t want), different coloured chalks. Rangoli Craft Materials Needed A pair of scissors Squared paper (or reuse any paper with a blank surface that you don’t want) Different coloured chalks. Steps: Step 1. Fold the paper into half and cut along the sides of the paper. Let your child be as creative as they want! They can cut straight, wavy, zigzag or curved long/short lines. Step 2. Time to unfold and be amazed at the design that they have made! Step 3. Using a chalk, colour the spaces in between the design to imprint it onto another piece of paper Step 4. Voila! Here’s your beautiful print! This is a good time to have a discussion about the craftwork and the design with them as well. Discussion with your child about their craftwork enhances their self-confidence. Children find intrinsic joy in their work and will feel a sense of accomplishment upon completion of a task. Don’t hesitate to ask questions to give your child an idea of what to share if they are reserved and unsure of what to talk about. Just a gentle reminder not to overwhelm and force your child to share if they are not ready to. Remember, it’s all about having fun and bonding with your child! For a refresher on why we use term of encouragement rather than praise, click here! Happy November!