DIY Horizontal Disk on a Dowel

Asssalamu alaikum,

This is a Montessori Horizontal disk on a dowel:

These are used to help infants practice hand-eye coordination. The infant has to focus on sliding the wooden disk onto the dowel and this is where the practice with hand-eye coordination comes into play. These also help infants and toddlers practice grasping with their fingers.

I seem to be in a DIY mood these days because I had the inclination to try to make one from materials commonly found in the home (well not the dowel perhaps but everything else insha'Allah...hehe)

The mistake I made was that I put the dowel too close to the top of the box. Alhamdulillah, the disks still balanced fine when they were put onto the dowel but I think it would look better if I'd put the dowel in the centre of the box. Lesson learned alhamdulillah.

You can make one of these at home using the following materials insha'Allah:

- sturdy small/medium cardboard box

- a dowel that is about 1/2 inch or larger (depending on your disks)

- brown paper bags with no writing or decorations

- hot glue gun

- glue stick or liquid glue

- an Xacto knife

- wooden disks

All I did was cover the box with the brown paper bags (with glue), cut two holes at opposite ends of the box, slide the dowel through and used a hot glue gun to keep the dowel from sliding around (I just put hot glue at each end point where the dowel protrudes from the box). Once dry it was ready to use alhamdulillah. It was quick, easy and inexpensive alhamdulillah.

Enjoy insha'Allah!

Photo credit: Nienhuis Montessori equipment for infants and toddlers.

Ice Pictures

Assalamu alaikum,

A winter nature walk, melted snow, collected twigs, pine needles, tree bark, stones, or whatever goodies you and your little one can find make this winter craft especially nice. Use all of these collected wonders that Allah has Created to make an ice picture insha'Allah:

I stumbled upon this beautiful (and easy) craft on My Little Hen and children as young as nine months old can enjoy this craft because if they are given the items in their hand, they can drop them into the aluminum pan. Older infants can actually go beyond that and collect the snow, allow it to melt and pour the water into the aluminum pan insha'Allah.

When the picture was frozen and ready to be explored, I took the opportunity to point out and name each of the items encased in the ice and mention that it is Allah who Created each of these things, including the ice. I also used this time to introduce and reinforce the concept of temperature and textures (i.e. cold, rough, smooth, etc.). This was an activity that was truly enjoyed alhamdulillah.

This is a great motor and sensory activity for infants and toddlers during the winter months and I hope you and your children have the chance to make an ice picture insha'Allah.

*Note: I recommend using melted snow because for many around the world, water is a precious, and often hard to come by, resource. I do not know the Islamic ruling on using water on such an activity as this but to err on the side of caution I thought it best to use melted snow instead of water that can be used to drink or cook with and waallahu alim.*

Enjoy insha'Allah!

Language Activity for Treasure Baskets

Assalamu alaikum,

Treasure baskets for infants and toddlers are just wonderful masha'Allah. They are a complete sensory experience that keeps children engaged for long periods of time as they explore each item in turn: feeling it, smelling it, touching it, and even placing the object into their mouths. For this reason, you want to make sure that each object is safe for the child based on his/her age insha'Allah. Treasure baskets can be introduced to infants as young as six months old. Into your child's treasure basket you can place objects that have a theme (i.e. kitchen items) or you can collect an array of items for your little one to explore insha'Allah. 

I've done a post on treasure baskets before but I realized that I wanted to extend the use of the treasure basket and incorporate a language activity as well insha'Allah. What I did was I took several wooden craft pieces and placed them into a basket. I invited the child to explore the contents independently after I had modeled smelling and looking at each object, etc. I then took selected objects and named them as I placed them on the work mat. The child attempted to say each name after I had named the object alhamdulillah. Ideally if you are doing this activity you do not want to use as many objects as I have pictured insha'Allah. Initially, you will introduce 3-4 objects to be named insha'Allah and add more objects as the child's skill increases insha'Allah.

I want to extend the activity further for older toddlers (15 months and older) by lying out and naming three or four objects only and then invite the child to match them to picture cards that show those same objects insha'Allah. These are the picture cards I will use insha'Allah:

So, in this activity I would only have the frog, turtle, giraffe and bee pieces in the basket.

There are also these two books that can be used with this activity insha'Allah:

We will use this book, 'Animals', for our activity insha'Allah but unfortunately, I cannot locate this book on the internet. If I am able to insha'Allah, I will update this post and provide the link insha'Allah. The book is wonderful as it is in Arabic and English alhamdulillah.

If you choose transportation as your theme (which I think I will do next insha'Allah), this book would be a nice read aloud to use insha'Allah.You can buy the book here insha'Allah or of course, you can check it out from the library insha'Allah (smile).

If you do this activity, try to place as few plastic objects in the basket as possible insha'Allah. The reason: plastic offers little or no sensory learning. Plastic is cold, usually smooth and virtually indestructible. These characteristics (among others) offer the child very little information about his/her world. The world is not always cold, smooth and indestructible; indeed, things in the environment have varying temperatures, textures, and can be broken. 

I've read (and seen it for myself) that children treat plastic objects with little or no respect and do the opposite with non plastic objects. Children recognize and appreciate beauty and well crafted materials subhana'Allah. Wooden toys can be expensive yes, but I've found great buys at bargain stores, second hand shops, etc. The toys are often in great shape and need only to be washed and disinfected thoroughly before being presented to the child. In this way we are able to provide many wooden toys to children alhamdulillah. 

Here are some examples of non-plastic objects (that can often be found around the house) that can be put into a treasure basket insha'Allah:

- Sponge

- Sea Shells

- Whisk

- Wooden spoons

- Metal or Wooden Spatula

- Ball of yarn

- Gourd

- Coconut Shell

- Stones

- Jar lid

- Velvet Powder Brush

- Satin String/Scarf

- Piece of sandpaper

Aside from appreciating beauty in objects, when a toddler throws an object in frustration and it breaks the child learns something from that experience. As a parent (or teacher) you can use that as a teachable moment insha'Allah. Show the child the broken object and explain that when we are upset we do not throw things. Have the child participate in cleaning up his/her mess and in a calm voice explain that this toy will not be available to play with anymore because it is broken and unusable now.

Insha'Allah, you will find treasure baskets to be an excellent sensory and language learning tool for your infant or toddler. You can see a delightful treasure basket here insha'Allah get more ideas of what to place in a treasure basket here and here insha'Allah. If you'd like to use the same picture cards, you can download them here insha'Allah.

Enjoy insha'Allah!