There are many activities in the Montessori classroom to target small motor skills! The bulk of these activities are found in the Practical Life area. The teacher puts together many different activities for this area of the classroom, using the lesson album made during training. There is a lot of room for creativity here on the teachers part! Throughout the years, one of the children's favorites is manipulating Play Dough. Working with dough can soothe and calm little people. I prefer home-made dough. It's is easier to manipulate for the kids and the teacher can create original colors and add extracts for scent. Here is my favorite recipe!
Play Dough
2 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar
2 cups water
Food Coloring of choice and/or extract
2 tbs. vegetable oil
Mix flour, salt and cream of tartar in medium sized pot. Add the food coloring to the water. Add oil to colored water. Add the water and oil mixture to the dry ingredients in the pot and stir until blended together. Time to "cook" the dough on medium to high heat until the mixture becomes solid and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Immediately turn dough out on waxed paper. Let the dough cool for a minute or two and knead until smooth.
