Materials for Scooping and Transferring
The materials used to scoop and transfer are simple and inexpensive. Many are probably already in your pantry.
Examples of materials which can be utilized in these Practical Life exercises include:
- Dried Beans
- Dried Peas
- Raw Rice
- Dried Pasta
- Cornmeal
- Grits
- Cream of Wheat
These materials come in many different varieties and range from large red beans, to black eyed peas, and even tiny lentils. There is a great deal of fun and interest in these basic materials. A favorite of these is the 9 Bean Soup which has a fun variety of sizes and shapes. This is also good for sorting skills as well as transferring exercises.
Dried pasta also comes in many fun shapes and sizes from very tiny shapes, which can be ladled or scooped, to large pieces which can utilize tongs and pinching skills to transfer. The variety adds interest. When you include multiple types of scooping and transferring activities on your Practical Life shelves it adds a great deal of fun and interest by using different colors, shapes, and sizes. In addition, the different sizes and shapes will require further refinement of the fine motor skills used during these Practical Life exercises.
Many different tools can also be used in the transferring of these basic materials. The tools used should vary based on the materials used; such as using a tiny spoon for transferring salt or very small grains; utilizing a mustard spoon for transferring individual beans or peas; and using a child sized ladle on fine materials for perfecting the scooping motion; and using tongs for practicing pinching skills and through transferring individual pieces of pasta. The grains, dried peas, and dried beans can all be purchased inexpensively at your local grocery store. The tiny tools for transferring Practical Life exercises can be purchased at Montessori supply stores. The resource information is found in Appendix B in the book Montessori Made Easy: Practical Life Lessons (a link to the book can be found on the page “Dr. Andrea’s Books.”
Materials Needed
- 9 Bean Soup Mix / or Other Dry Beans
- Small Straw Baskets / or Other Small Containers
- Tiny Wood Spoon
- Presentation Tray to Hold and Display Materials
Presentation and Activity:
Work from left to right. Begin with the beans in a basket on the left and the empty basket on the right, as shown in the example. Pick up a few beans with the spoon and transfer them into the second basket. Repeat until all of the beans have been transferred. Once the activity has been completed, use the spoon to transfer the beans back into the first basket. Repeat the activity as desired.
Spooning Dry Beans Extensions
The following activities are extensions of spooning dry beans. These allow additional practice along with increased levels of skills as each activity uses slightly different materials and skills. Using different materials both as part of your display and actual work (such as different types of utensils used to transfer) creates additional interest in the activities and encourages repetition in practice. In a center, these extensions allow even more sets of materials on your shelves for greater access to these activities by all of the children.
On the next post, I will share more extensions and more ways to work on this activity which builds fine motor skills and concentration.
You can find many more activities in the book which is available at Amazon.com. Direct links to all of the books are on the page labeled “Dr. Andrea’s Books.”