Fun with beans

Here's another one of Montessori Early Life Practical Activities. Earlier I shared how 'water play' isn't really play and now, here's another activity that will really get the energetic toddler's attention!

I managed to get Alicia to sit in her chair for an hour (to eat) - that's record-breaking! You can see her hamster-mouth full of food... since she's gonna behave this way with or without the activity (she's been doing the 'I'm-gonna-keep-my-food-in-the-mouth-for-the-longest-time' stunt lately), I'd rather she be doing something useful while eating... at least I feel that we're not wasting time and I feel less frustrated during the feeding...

I offered her a spoon to do the transferring of beans so that she gets some practice spooning small objects as well though actually the process of transferring the beans is already considered a practical life skill. I used black beans coz they are bigger than green or red beans... you can choose to use pasta for this activity as well! Here she's training up the dexterity of her left hand as she normally uses her right hand when she uses the spoon...

Note: Please supervise the toddler closely during this activity in case she decides to ingest the beans or stuff it into the nostrils...