color sorting

I got this idea for a new sorting lesson from My Montessori Journey. It's a slightly more challenging variation of regular "sorting." The children love it!

First, the child opens the little container - similar to those often found in his or her lunchbox. Inside the container are red, green, and blue (4 of each) wooden pegs. The child selects a peg and places it in the glass with the corresponding color band. The glasses are shot glasses, and the bands are just red, green, and blue pieces of tape.

When I present this lesson, as with most practical life lessons, I don't say much to the child. I name the lesson, and ask the child to repeat it. The purpose of this lesson is fine motor skill, sequence, and visual discrimination - not vocabulary! If the child names the colors, I take note, but I haven't been using this lesson to teach the language "red, green, blue." I feel that the Montessori color tablets are more appropriate materials to introduce children to color names. I tend to assume that most children know their colors, but I'm always surprised to discover otherwise! :)

Overall, this color sorting lesson was easy to set up, and it provided a much needed variation to an already well-loved lesson!

Tomorrow is our official "change of theme" set-up day, so I'll be sure to post more photos of new lessons soon!