Preparing for the new school year – Material Making

Work Make Number Cards

In planning for the upcoming school year, summer break is a good time to make some materials. Whether you are going to be in the classroom or homeschooling you can prepare

now for specific lessons or other materials you may need. It feels good to continue to adding to your resource of materials.  Being creative in such a way is one the many joys of being a Montessori teacher, that of material making!

These were from a child's magazine. I cut them out and made them into matching cards.
These were from a child’s magazine. I cut them out and made them into matching cards.
Each school year I make sets of letter sound booklets for the children. More details of the teaching letter sounds can be found in the language area of the curriculum.
Each school year I make sets of letter sound booklets for the children. More details on teaching letter sounds can be found in the Language area of the curriculum.
I needed to redo some of the necklaces for letter sound lessons. You can see how the k is bent. Materials should always be beautiful so some of these have to be remade each year. How these are used can also be found in the Language area of the curriculum pages.
I needed to redo some of the necklaces for letter sound lessons. You can see how the k is bent. Materials should always be beautiful so some of these have to be remade each year. How these are used can also be found in the Language area of the curriculum pages.
Preparing some colored rice and noodles ahead of time for spooning or pouring exercise in the Practical Life area of the classroom is a great help.
Preparing some colored rice and noodles ahead of time for spooning or pouring exercise in the Practical Life area of the classroom is a great help.
Bag it all up and you will have it available whenever you need it.
Bag it all up and you will have it available whenever you need it.
I like to make a few pairs of 'blindfold' children's sunglasses. These work great for those children that may not be comfortable with putting a blindfold over their head.
I like to make a few pairs of ‘blindfold’ children’s sunglasses. These work great for those children that may not be comfortable with putting a blindfold over their head.
One year I needed to make some aprons. I added some puff paint flowers to the blue one. This also was the apron I used as a pattern to cut out others on different colored fabrics.
One year I needed to make some aprons. I added some puff paint flowers to the blue one. This also was the apron I used as a pattern to cut out others on different colored fabrics.
This tying frame needed some new ribbons.
This tying frame needed some new ribbons.
I ordered different sticker books from Dover Publishing. Order two books of each one and make them into matching cards.
I ordered different sticker books from Dover Publishing. Order two books of each one and make them into matching cards.
I printed out the numbers and pasted them onto snowflakes and penguins for a little change to the other square numeral cards I made.
I printed out the numbers and pasted them onto snowflakes and penguins for a little change to the other square numeral cards I made.
One of the teachers had this type of calendar work in her classroom. I thought it was a great idea and had to make one for my own classroom. I used puff paint to define the spaces and used small tiles to write the numbers on. then I made all the months and days of the week using different colored card stock paper.
One of the teachers had this type of calendar work in her classroom. I thought it was a great idea and had to make one for my own classroom. I used puff paint to define the spaces and used small tiles to write the numbers on. I decided to make the months of the year and days of the week using different colored card stock paper.

I hope some of these ideas have inspired you to get creative and prepare some materials for your classroom this summer!