Montessori
Grandparenting
Summertime Montessori Fun for the Whole Family
by Margot Garfield-Anderson
Not all Montessori
schools run
summer programs,
but with some careful
planning, you can keep your
children fully engaged in learning
and maintaining skills without
having to micromanage them.
Over the years, we’ve gathered
lots of ideas from lots of places.
We’ll just list a few of them here
with some guiding principles to
keep it in the ‘Montessori Way’
of parenting.
Picking Produce
Many local farms have all-youcan
pick opportunities, and some
even have hayrides, petting zoos,
educational programs, or festivals
to enjoy. Check to see what’s
available in your area. Children
love being outside, connecting
with the earth. Families can easily
make a day out of this activity.
One big consideration for my
family is the subject of pesticides.
We try to find organic farms. If
not, we highly recommend you
very thoroughly wash and dry
your purchases with a natural
product designed to help remove
some of the residue.
Casually engage children in a discussion
of the seasons. See if the
farm offers any small talks for
children about the crop being
harvested or cooking classes, and
have a plan for what you are going
to do with your pickings when
you get home. Depending on the
age of the children, vegetables can
be roasted, blanched and frozen,
cleaned and eaten raw, or put into
soups or stews to be put away for
cooler weather.
Fruits. Just thinking about all the
summer fruits makes your mouth
water. Of course, being able to
eat fruit and vegetables fresh off
the vine or tree is the best way
to enjoy, but cold summer fruit
soups can be delicious if some of
your pickings become a bit too
soft to use. When my twins were
infants, I took that fruit, milled,
and pureed it and then froze it in
small batches. I did this with vegetables
as well.
Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries,
and blackberries are delicious
if you place on a baking
sheet, separated out and then
frozen; same with grapes. Children
love to eat frozen fruit on a
hot summer day, and berries are
super-fruits!
My daughters, now mothers to my
four adorable granddaughters,
plant summer gardens each
year. The girls tend the garden
by watering and weeding. They
check the plants all through the
growing season and delight in
showing me the progress when
we Facetime. My youngest,
Harper, LOVES basil and eats it
as soon as it’s ready. Little cherry
tomatoes are a universal favorite
for all my girls. Allowing young
children to tend to their plants
gives them an introduction to the
cosmic nature of all living things,
a responsibility for a living thing,
and opens up discussion topics
to keep them engaged.
Sand and Water Play
For those fortunate to live near a
beach or lake with shorelines, you
already know how much children
enjoy this kind of outing.
Building sand castles can turn
into short little lessons on geometry
or discussions about ancient
castles and how long they took to
build. Building or playing during
the tides can turn into short discussions
about the effects of
the moon on tides. Hunting for
shells introduces some zoology
if you know what animals live in
the shells. Beach shops usually
carry those beautifully illustrated
or photographed books that can
help you and your children make
identifications. Of course, we discourage
any collection of shells
still containing their inhabitants.
Our grandchildren don’t live
near this kind of body of water,
so they had sand tables and did
lots of table washing and water
painting on all the surfaces (my
feet usually prime targets) with
both brushes and sponges. Children
love to squeeze sponges, and
this is a great way for them to develop
strong grips. For younger
children, table washing is one of
the first practical life lessons at
the primary level. Table washing
is great preparation for writing. It
also helps develop hand/eye coordination,
and an extra benefit is
that your outdoor furniture can
stay nice and clean if you let them
enjoy this activity.
Woodworking
Children love to use tools. Many
schools introduce woodworking
with young children using real
tools made for smaller hands.
There are easy kits for those that
don’t have the skills to create their
own, and there are many projects
on websites, such as Pinterest, for
more experienced builders. The
important thing to remember is
that parents let the child actually
do the work with you, making sure
to follow safety protocols. Try to
estimate how long a project might
take so that it can be segmented
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