Transfer Liquids Using Montessori Spooning Activity | Practical Life Lesson

This practical life video lesson is designed for 3 to 6-year-old children. It helps them develop their fine motor skills, hand grip, attention, and concentration with the help of Montessori spooning activity.

Children love playing with water. The spooning wet activity enables the child to perform day-to-day activities independently and confidently. Let us first understand what Montessori spooning is and its benefits.

What is the Montessori Spooning Activity?

Montessori spooning is a practical life activity introduced in the early childhood lessons of a Montessori classroom. It helps the child master the 3-finger grip. Children enjoy transferring work and often love to do this exercise, as it involves fun, creativity, and sounds.

This activity is can be introduced in two ways:

Spooning dry: transferring dry material such as beans, rice, chopped vegetables, cotton balls, or any other dry object from one bowl to another using a spoon and
Spooning wet: transferring liquids such as water, milk, or any other liquid from one bowl to another using a spoon.

Benefits of Montessori Spooning Activity

It helps a child learn how to hold a spoon steadily and transfer the items from one container to another.
It helps a child build a stronger hand grip and pincer grip while holding the spoon.
It helps a child learn the concept of measurement and estimation.
It helps to develop OCCI (Order, Concentration, Coordination and Independence).
It helps to promote visual discrimination.
It helps in the refinement of fine motor skills.
It helps a child prepare themselves to serve their own food and eat with a spoon without spilling.

Points of Interest for the Montessori Spooning Activity

Is the child capable of holding the spoon properly?
Is the child able to scoop water with a manageable amount?
What is the difference between the weight of an empty spoon and a filled spoon?
Is the child able to balance the water without spilling in a spoon while transferring?
What is the visual difference between filled and empty bowls?
What sound do the beans, water etc. make as they fall into the empty bowl (auditory feedback).

Control of Error of the Montessori Spooning

Always a bowl will be empty and one filled once the activity is completed
There are no spilled grains or liquid on the tray.

In this video, a child will learn about spooning wet, i.e. transferring liquids from one container to another.

Materials Required for a Spooning Wet Activity

A tray
2 same-sized bowls or cups
1 small sponge that could fit in a child’s hand
1 spoon with depth
Some liquid (water or colored water)

How to Present Spooning Wet Activity to the Child?

Invite the child to the table along with the spooning wet activity tray.
Place the bowls on the mat. Keep the full bowl on the left and the empty bowl on the right.
Now, tell the child that today we will learn how to transfer water from one bowl to another using a spoon.
Now pick the spoon and hold it between the three fingers (pincer grip) of the dominant hand.
Give the child time to master the right holding position of the spoon.
Once the child is ready, ask the child to scoop the water slowly and transfer it to the other bowl.
Repeat the activity until the first bowl becomes empty, and the water is transferred to the empty bowl.
Now, ask the child to scoop the water back into the original bowl in the same way.
Wipe off the spilled water using the sponge, if any.
Ask the child to try the spooning wet activity independently.

With the help of this video, show the child how to transfer water using a spoon. Let them explore this activity and build confidence. You can also use various containers to make it more complex as the child feels comfortable with the easier ones.

Spooning Wet Activity