HappyMama

There are many purposes to what Maria Montessori called Practical Life activities.  Gross/fine motor skills, ability to concentrate, self esteem, and so on. 

Of course children love things like pretend stoves and food, (I don’t condemn having them!) but if given the choice, they prefer helping you make real food and doing real housework.  By giving them tools that they can use - child-size if necessary - and by giving them small tasks that they can accomplish, then they will discover self-worth in a way that a plastic toy can’t provide. 

One practical life activity my kids enjoy is washing dirty clothing.  (It also elicits good conversation about how most people around the world wash their clothing.)  Last April we did this work in the bathtub, and when hubby came home from work, one of the boys ran to him and proudly said, “dad, we washed your stinky socks for you!” 

To have a successful learning experience requires careful preparation.  We had laundry soap in a small dropper bottle, which they dropped into a tub of water.  We had a small washboard for scrubbing.  They learned “rinse”, “wring”, and how to use the clothespins.  This activity worked much better when we did it outside on the deck recently in the 90+ heat.  My little guy stood by the rinse bucket and splashed happily in the cold water the entire time.  Too bad for us our HOA frowns on clotheslines in the yard.  So ridiculous. 

Other ideas:  whisking eggs, measuring flour with measuring cups, using a non-electric carpet sweeper (ours was $22 from Michael Olaf - a great investment), pouring liquids, hammering nails into a tree trunk or hammering golf tees into clay, using a sandblock, putting nuts & bolts together, kneading dough and making pizza, dusting, polishing, tablesetting, sweeping, plant care, pet care, folding laundry.  Practical Life.  Good name.