Real objects activity

This video lesson is designed for 1-3-year-old children. It introduces them to the real objects in their surroundings through touch and feel.

When a child looks around, they find different objects such as fruits, doors, fans, balls, books, pens, tables, etc. They all have different characteristics such as shape, size, color, and texture. Thus it is essential for the child to understand these differences using their senses like touch, smell, feel, and observe. 

The video lesson guides the child to feel, touch and recognize fruits like orange, banana, avocado, and apple.

How to Identify an Object?

An object can be identified based on the following characteristics:

  • Color:  Colour and appearance help to differentiate and classify an object.
  • Texture: Every object possesses a different kind of texture. Thus, it is essential to understand the surface and feel of the object. 
  • Shape: An object has a certain shape that helps a child to identify an object. For example, oranges are round in shape.

What is the Importance of Introducing Real Objects in the Montessori Classroom or at Home?

Toddlers start to classify and categorize things around them very quickly. They try to understand how things work and how they are interconnected. As parents, teachers, and guides, we should allow a child to explore the real world around them before introducing the abstract.

Allowing a child to experience the real before introducing abstract language materials helps naturally develop concentration, patience, respect for materials, self-control, and precision.

According to Dr. Maria Montessori, the sensorial experience of real objects should come before introducing pictures. In the Joyful child, she said, “Intelligence is built upon a wealth of experience followed by the vocabulary to classify and express experience.”

Identifying an object is beneficial for children in various developmental areas. Here are some of the sensorial benefits:

  1. Builds vocabulary
  2. Builds concentration and memory
  3. Enhance visual and problem-solving skills 
  4. Helps in developing order and hand-eye coordination.
  5. Help children adapt to their environment and become better observers. 

What is the Purpose of Providing Real Objects in a Classroom Environment?

This lesson is intended to help enrich the child’s vocabulary, provide precise language, and help them associate objects with their names. It is an excellent way of introducing various objects such as fruits, vegetables, domestic animals, flowers, etc., to nurture a child’s mind. 

Dr. Montessori believed that imagination is the child’s natural inclination; it stems from what is real. To stimulate children’s imagination, give them real objects and a fundamental understanding of the world. 

Materials Required for the Sensorial Real Objects Activity

  1. Tray/Basket
  2. Floor Rug
  3. Five or six real objects (such as fruits)

How to Introduce the Real Object Activity to the Child?

  1. Place a rug on the table and invite the child to work with you.
  2. As shown in the video, pick one fruit such as a banana, and ask the child to 
    1. feel it
    2. smell it
    3. look at the fruit and tell the color, shape, texture, etc.
  3. Name the fruit and ask the child to repeat it
  4. Let the child take time to observe the fruit and recognize it.
  5. Put the fruit back in the basket and repeat steps 2-4.
  6. Pick any fruit randomly and ask the child to name it.
  7. If the child takes time to adapt, repeat this activity until the child is comfortable.

Watch the video to know more about the real object’s activity.

This real object activity in a classroom is essential to develop the fundamental skills of the child. It gives them purpose, meaning, emphasis on independence, and adaptation to their environment.

Invite the child to repeat this activity with the items available at home like fruits, vegetables, boxes, and other real objects around them. Guide the child to touch and feel the different objects, as shown in the video.

For more practical life lessons for the toddlers, click here.

Video created by: Bronia Birkbeck (Building Futures Education)

Toddler | Language | Real Objects (English)

This video has been added and used with the author’s permission. It is also available on the author’s YouTube, here.

Tags

  • English
  • Language
  • Practical Life
  • toddler