Learning Through Touch
Through hands on, didactic materials we guide the children to deepen their understanding of the world through the use of their senses. The sense of touch is essential to children’s growth of physical abilities, language and cognitive skills, and social-emotional competency.
Whether a child is learning opposites like hard and soft, cold and hot, or rough and smooth, there is so much a child can learn through works relating to the sense of touch in the Montessori classroom. Using a textured matching board like the one shown above is a great work to add to the sensorial shelves this spring. The child will have to feel the board and each piece in order to match the textures properly.
Sensory bins can be another wonderful way to encourage tactile exploration in the classroom. Sensory bins can be changed up often and can easily be related to different holidays or subject matter focus. From water and bubbles exploration to sand and shells or rocks, there is a wide variety of ways you can use sensory bins in your classroom this spring.
Adding these soft felt fruit motifs is a great way for children to explore the sense of touch. These felt pieces are great when use with a felt board or on their own for sorting exercises. We also have beautiful felt flowers too!
Weighted Cylinders are another way to expand the tactile lessons within your classroom. These cylinders are all the same shape and size, but vary in weight, making them a great way to teach a child the concepts of heavy and light.
Knobbed Cylinder Extension
Bring new excitement to a classic work in the classroom. The knobbed cylinder blocks when paired with a blindfold can become a focused lesson on touch.
Invite the child to join you at a table. Show the child how to put on a blindfold and check the creases for any lines of sight.
Then take a knobbed cylinder out of the cylinder block and trace the outer edge of the cylinder with your finger. Next, trace the hole within the block before placing the knobbed cylinder back into the block.
At first the child will need to simply practice tracing and placing the knobbed cylinders back into the block, but eventually you can extend the work by taking three cylinders mixing them up and asking the child to put them back into the block without looking. The child can continue to add cylinders until they can do the entire block blindfolded.
Children will love this game and will love seeing a teacher put on a blindfold in a busy classroom!
Children will love this game and will love seeing a teacher put on a blindfold in a busy classroom!
Blindfolds can be paired with a wide variety of sorting work too, like this vegetable sorting work. Children will love the added challenge of sorting items using just their sense of touch!
