How to Peel an Orange | Montessori Practical Life Lesson

This practical life activity is designed for 3-6-year-old children. In this activity, children will learn how to peel and slice a satsuma orange using their hands.

Children love oranges because they are delicious, juicy fruits with so many sensory properties. Peeling an orange gives young children just the right level of challenge while preparing food.

Benefits of Peeling and Slicing activity

This activity has numerous benefits; a few are listed below.

It helps in developing fine motor skills in children.
It builds the practical life skill of using a vegetable peeler
It helps to develop order, coordination, and independence.
It helps a child to become independent
It helps to develop social skills and teaches them how to adapt to society.
It strengthens the finger muscles and increases concentration.

Material Required for Peeling an Orange Activity

A bowl
An orange
A plate to keep the peels

Points of Interest

Slicing an orange.
Preparing food for themselves.
Name, color, and smell of the orange.

How to Introduce the Peeling an Orange Activity to the Child?

Invite the child to the table and tell them, that today, we will learn how to peel an orange and slice them
Firstly, ask the child to prepare the orange before peeling it. To do so, wash the orange thoroughly with water to remove dirt or impurities. It is necessary to remove all pesticides and any lingering dirt.
Place the orange flat on the ground, holding it with the non-dominant hand to give support and show the child to pull the peel using the dominant hand.
Hold the peel with a two-finger-thumb grasp (different size oranges require different grasps) because this gives children excellent grip support.
Once the peel is apart, place it in the bowl.
Now ask the child to slice them one by one between the space lines of the orange.
Once the orange is sliced, ask the child to arrange each slice on the serving plate to share with the family.
Ask the child to peel and slice another orange.

Watch the video to learn how to peel an orange correctly. Invite the child to repeat this peeling activity and build their confidence.

The activity instills a sense of achievement and contribution as the child helps in preparing food and enables them to carry out daily household chores.

Guide the child to take good care of the environment by responsibly disposing of vegetable peels.

Related Resources

Some other peeling activities video links:

For more practical life lessons, click here.

Video Created by: Kata Lovassy

Primary | Practical Life | Food Preparation | Peeling and Slicing Satsuma Orange (English)
This video has been added and used with the author’s permission. It is also available on the author’s YouTube, here.