One of the principles of Montessori education is to move from concrete to abstract. First, Elise matched objects to objects, now she's matching objects to pictures, and soon she'll be matching pictures to pictures...
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Why matching?
Matching supports the development of visual discrimination,
which is an important reading skill.
Matching can also enrich vocabulary,
especially if the items being matched are related.
Matching provides experience in 1-1 correspondence,
which is a critical math skill.
Matching also requires problem solving;
the visual disharmony of mismatched items provides a control of error.
Oh, and there's just something so interesting
about seeing two items that are exactly the same, right?
Whew! Ready to match objects to pictures?
Here we go!
^^ "Hey! I have that!" - matching familiar items to catalog photos ^^
^^ matching Rosie to photos of Australian Cattle Dogs in The Ultimate Dog Book
- Elise finds this mach a lot! ^^
^^ real-life matching - We bring field guides on all our walks. ^^
^^ matching vintage fake fruit to fruit cards from Montessori Print Shop
- The fruit was leftover from a Carmen Miranda costume, but real fruit would work, too! ^^
^^ matching familiar items to laminated photos ^^
^^ matching farm animal figurines to Moo ^^
^^ matching North American mammal figurines to postcards ^^
^^ story props - matching percussion instruments to My Family Plays Music ^^
^^ matching rings to their color-coordinated silhouettes
- I made the cards by tracing each ring on paper and filling in the outlines with colored pencil ^^
^^matching dishes and utensils to a Montessori-inspired placemat
- I made the placemat by tracing Elise's dishes and utensils on construction paper and aluminum foil. After cutting them out, I glued them to poster board and attached contact paper. ^^
^^ matching miscellaneous items to the silhouettes in Black & White ^^
^^ Black & White is an accordion-style book, so after matching the first side, Elise flipped it over and scavenged around the house for items to match the other side! ^^
^^ matching the pieces of a shape puzzle to their color-coordinated outlines ^^
^^ matching cooking utensils to their outlines ^^
^^ Elise found this matching activity on her Language shelf before I had the chance to present it to her,
but she knew exactly what to do! :) ^^
Still looking for more matching objects to pictures inspiration???
- This was one of my favorite diy materials from my teaching days: a matching objects to pictures collage!
- I think this matching objects to pictures idea from Chasing Cheerios is really clever: Black Bean Bowl of "B" Objects.
- If you are handy with a camera and printer, How we Montessori has a great tutorial for making your own cards: Matching with more and DIY cards.
Field guides and matching... Why did I never think of that before?! Thanks for this post!
ReplyDeleteYes - this is one of our favorites - and easiest! I think you had a matching idea on your blog that I really liked - maybe this past spring? Animals in their habitats? Hmmm... I couldn't find it!
DeleteLovely post and ideas! When did you start making matching activities available to her or when did you notice an interest?
ReplyDeleteHi Nduoma! Thank you! Elise started matching objects to other objects just before she turned 2 - at about 20 months. She was fascinated by pairs and would exclaim "two!" I started preparing matching object to object activities around then. Here's the link to that post: matching objects to objects She started matching objects to pictures at a little over 2 years old - 25 months maybe? She started noticing things in catalogs that she had around the house, and she loved looking for our dog in the dog book. I started preparing these activities soon after. Elise is about 28 months old right now. She's been noticing pictures that match lately, so I think I'll start preparing those activities next!
DeleteAh! I remember that post and I love that you follow her and her interests. I try to do that but sometimes I get distracted by interesting activities. Thanks for the reminder! By the way I'm going to try the hot and cold and a variation of your felt face activity soon. My little guy is very interested in temperature and body parts.
DeleteOh, that's a good way to say it - "distracted by interesting activities." I am the same way! I have a mile long list of things I want to put together for Elise, but I find that most of our activities are based on my impulses. Can't wait to see/hear about your hot and cold experiment and your felt face activity. I should put that out for Elise again - maybe with some different faces and face parts? Hope you have a nice weekend!
DeleteHi Nduoma - just wondering if you blog?
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