MONTESSORI NATURE Educational printables at your fingertips Explore all cards here Welcome to the Montessori Nature shop with thematic printables for children. The printables are designed to simplify the learning process, to make complex concepts
It's Japan's Foundation Day & we're celebrating with amazing Joyful Japan Crafts for Kids! Take your pick from Origami, Kokeshi or Hinamatsuri!
Here's our Asia continent bag. As with each of our continent bags, I do my best to find a variety of things to represent the continent as a whole. This was tricky with our Asia bag, though, because we have family and friends from China and Japan and so most of our souvenirs are from those countries. Here's what's inside: Maps and landmark cards. Books. Some of the books are from China, gifts to us from my brother-in-law's girlfriend. She was so excited to find out about James being able to count to 10 in Mandarin (here's the language program we use) and so she sent us these books. I think she hopes James will continue to learn Chinese and that he'll someday learn to read these books. The blue book is kind of unintentionally humorous - it's a dictionary of American idioms... talk about getting lost in translation. :) Japanese souvenirs: a Mangekyou (kaleidoscope), a Daruma doll, and a San Kai Koma (3 layered spinning top). These items were gifts from our friend, Kana, who recently visited her family in Japan. Miscellaneous souvenirs: Tibetan prayer flags, a mask from Papua New Guinea*, chopsticks from Bali, and a Japanese hand fan - all of these were purchased at a local fair trade store. The silk scarf is from China and was a gift to me from my brother-in-law's girlfriend. *I can't seem to find a definite answer as to which continent Papua New Guinea belongs to. I've read mixed opinions all over the web and the majority seem to align it with Asia. Feel free to add your two cents. :) Music and artwork. I purchased the drum CD years ago at the World Showcase area in Disney's Epcot Center and you can buy the Putumayo CD here. I wrote more about the artwork here. I chose artwork to represent India, Japan, China and Thailand. Pictures and postcards. The pictures are from the continent kit from Montessori For Everyone. The postcards are from Singapore and Japan. Papers, cards, and stamps. The papers can be used for Origami - this site has some easy models for kids. The rubber stamps are from my scrapbooking stash. Chinese flashcards. I found these beautiful cards here and I cut and laminated them. I think James will enjoy looking at these and, someday, I hope he'll be interested in trying to write the characters on our Buddha Board. Three part cards. Animals. I've had those two stone carved animals since I was a child! Money, flags, and stamps. The stamps and most of the currency is fake and are simply images I found on Google. Here again I tried to represent a variety of countries. The Iraqi Dinar is real and was given to us by a friend of ours who was in Iraq during the war. The tiny coin is a real Hong Kong penny, but the other coins are fake - I think I found them in a craft store years ago. The flags (China & Japan) were purchased here. This is a great cookbook with simple, yet authentic recipes from around the world. For each recipe there's a bit of history, too. I'd love to know if you have an authentic and kid-friendly recipe that represents Asia. If you'd like to share it please email me at countingcoconuts(at)gmail(dot)com. Thanks! And speaking of food, one thing I think would be really fun to add to a continent bag is some felt food - in the case of Asia, something like sushi would be cute! I hope you've enjoyed this photo tour of our Asia Continent Bag! You might also enjoy these other posts from my Continent Bag Series: Our Continent Bags Our Continent Bags - Storage Our Continent Bags - North America Our Continent Bags - Antarctica Our Continent Bags - Europe Our Continent Bags - Africa Our Continent Bags - South America Our Continent Bags - Australia Also check out my Continent Bags photo album on the Counting Coconuts Facebook page. I'm linking this post up to The Preschool Corner and Montessori Monday. ~Thank you for your comments!~
Iceland´s delicatessen.....
Artist and illustrator, Haleigh Mun, talks about life as a creative living in New York City.
Mother's day books that celebrate all different kinds of moms for preschool. These books help children appreciate all the things moms do.
A few items from East Asia on our shelves for the children to examine These photo-description cards are from the Asia A-Z Montessori Printables Pack Writing numbers in Chinese Origami fun A simple zen garden found at the dollar store Learning how to make some Chinese and Japanese characters with our Sumi E Board […]
With students of Year 6 we painted some fans in Oriental style, with colorful watercolors on the background and silhouettes of bamboo p...
the shop owner from across the street is a cutie #cynonari #genshinimpact #原神
I’m so excited to share with you bonus content related to my new Asia: Its People and History release. Even if you haven’t read the book, please enjoy these free copywork pages and word puzzles related to the land of Asia. History and Geography-themed copywork (three handwriting styles) Facts about Bangladesh Facts about China Facts ... Read More about Asia: Its People and History Bonus Content
{ Asia } I love sharing this story based in India. I told the story with felt 'puppets' that I made and the children can retell the story using the puppets on a work rug to a friend or just to themselves. { Asian Cultural Artifacts Basket } Here one child is offering help to another child with the Asia map. It is so heartwarming to see the kindness of helping hands throughout the course of the day... Globes and puzzle maps are used in 3-6 Montessori environments to teach geography in an extremely concrete and motor sensorial way. Children are able to see the Earth as a whole then as continents, then as countries, then states and so on. During this time of their lives students also love to do puzzles. The colorful wooden puzzles leave lasting impressions of the shapes and sizes of the countries and states. One of the Ohio Academic Standards that has to be met by kindergartners is to "(m)easure...volume using uniform objects in the environment. For example, how many small containers it takes to fill a big container using sand, rice, or beans." Here the children used an Asian soup spoon to see how many spoonfuls are needed to fill the measuring cups. I used the geese measuring cups to represent Spring ~ yea! One was a half cup and the other was a full cup. { Mortar and Pestle with Anise Seeds } This work made the room smell intoxicatingly good...like licorice! Using the mortar strengthened the children's handwriting muscles and created crushed anise to be used in the Smelling Bottles on our Sensorial Shelf. As a side note, the Smelling Bottles contained various spices from Asia: cinnamon, anise, curry, peppercorns, cardamom, and ginger. As a Montessori teacher I am always seeking ways to refine the skills of the children including their gross motor skills. I found this beautiful little Asian bell at Goodwill ( I love thrift stores!) for an exercise of 'Walking with a Bell' in which children walk the perimeter of the room in an attempt to not ring it while walking. 'Cherry Blossom Painting' is a work to celebrate spring's offerings and Japan's Sakura or Cherry blossom time ~ a very special time of the year. For this work, children use the eyedropper to squeeze four drops of diluted black tempura paint near the bottom of the sheet of 5x7 paper. Secondly, they use a cut straw to blow the paint towards the top of the paper. After the puddles of paint have been blown, they squeeze a tiny amount of pink tempura paint into the little bowl and practice painting cherry blossoms on the smaller sheets of paper with a paintbrush. When they feel that they are ready, they paint the cherry blossoms onto their 5x7 sheet. These are wonderful Mother's Day gifts, too! The following are two paintings from the children ~ { sweet } { Conical Hats } We talked about staple foods and the staple food of Asia ~ rice. The children made conical hats and also tasted rice... and they loved it. And, they say the most wonderful things like, "This is so good I can eat this all day and all night until I blow up!" One hears the funniest things when in the midst of children. Anyways, it's amazing what a bit of vegetarian stir fry sauce can do to rice! { make it a beautiful day }
Everything you need to know for visiting Xitou Monster Village in Nantou, Taiwan and staying at the spooky Monster Village Hotel!
Although Chinese New Year is coming to an end, I wanted to feature some of the great projects posted on It's Playtime celebrating this festive holiday. H is for Homeschooling put together some great Montessori inspired Chinese New Year Tot Trays. Tongs, chopsticks, scooping; all great for developing those fine motor skills. Crafts-N-Things created some cute Chinese drums and dragon masks for their Chinese New Year Party. If you have a chance, stop by The Heart Project and donate $5 to The American Heart Association. With every $5 donation you'll receive a beautiful ebook filled with photos from over 100 kid friendly projects. If you were featured this week, don't forget to grab your special "featured button." Now, on to this weeks play date! It's Playtime is a community and Thursday link-up hosted by: * Rachele : Messy Kids (That's me!) * Anna : The Imagination Tree * Rachel : Quirky Momma * Jamie : hands on : as we grow * Jenny : Let the Children Play How to Play : * Link up a post about a playful learning experience enjoyed by kids. * Give us love and pop a button into your post/blog. Invite your readers to the weekly play date! * Stop by one of our blogs every Thursday and add your link about play. Your link will show up on each of the blogs in the It's Playtime community. * Each week the playtime hosts will choose favorite posts to feature. (By linking you are giving us permission to use an image and link to you, if featured.) * Be sure to visit some of the links that catch your eye. Commenting on posts that you find interesting or inspiring is a wonderful way to develop your own playful community.
Montessori-inspired Asia learning activities and free printables for kids.
Final product wise, this might just have been my FAVORITE project this past school year. I am so unbelievably proud of the work these 5th graders did on these! I found this project here via Pinterest. Thanks a faithful attempt! I Can Statements: I Can talk about stylized art I Can use the Library resource A-Z Animals Encyclopedia to research a food chain that includes 3 or more animals I Can show a food chain mouth-in-mouth using stylized images of plants and animals Day 1: Students came in with this image on the screen... I asked them to figure out what they all had in common, eventually they ended up describing stylized without even knowing it (I love when that happens!) and I revealed the vocabulary of stylized. To better explain I showed them this awesome graphic I put together in lucidpress.... After a bit more discussion we had a "quiz" where I put up an image and they had to guess stylized or realistic. They did perfect. Then I showed them our inspiration image... They just wrapped up a science unit about ecosystems and food chains so it was the perfect project to connect to the classroom. After explaining the I Cans and the how to do the research and navigate the site they were using for research, they grabbed laptops and got to work filling out the packet below. There was quite a bit of sketching involved but it really seemed to help them understand how to break down their animals and plants. Day 2: After I approved their sketches they got to work! They had an option to draw and color with colored pencil or to collage with paper. We took about 4 class periods total on this, 1 for intro and research, and the rest were workdays. Next time I will probably have them writing something to go along with them when they are displayed. I just can't contain how happy these make me!
Seoraksan National Park is one of Korea's most beautiful places. This post gives you advice on what to do for a day trip to Korea's Seoraksan National Park.
The interiror of Phillipines church with a theme from the Bible in the foreground illuminated with candles,Bologna.
This Korean rock game is where you toss a rock in the air and pick one off the ground in round 1. By the last round you catch them on the back of your hand.
Thailand, with its vibrant culture, stunning landscapes, and rich history, has long been a top destination for travelers seeking unique experiences. Amidst the myriad attractions that the country offers, Lalitta Café stands out as a must-visit destination for those yearning to step into a dreamy world. This enchanting café has captured the attention of many,
Featuring over a hundred erotic sculptures of people and animals in various sexual positions, Jeju Loveland will stimulate your wildest sexual fantasies!
It has been great to hear from those of you who have read around the world with your kids this summer! To wrap up this summer’s Read Around the World event, I wanted to highlight the very bes…
Explore kuan@watersedge's 197 photos on Flickr!
Learn the best Philippines round trip itinerary with the best things to do and highlights. Travel tips and map for must-see places in 3 weeks
The best photos from this week, selected by our editors.
Based in Tokyo, KID ROSE is a creative graphic designer whose work is deeply rooted in the diverse and rich cultures of Japan and East Asia, uniquely reinterpreted through design. For Autumn/Winter 20
The Dessert Museum isn’t really a museum, but a pastel-hued attraction dedicated to candy and confections. It was made to sweeten your Instagram feed.
The standard theme often given for Viking history is that of blond-haired, blued-eyed, burly men exploring, trading, ransacking, and pillaging across Europe, Asia, and the North Atlantic. While historical Viking exploits still entertain history buffs, a pervasive study of DNA extracted from the bones of their burial sites is overturning the idea that a fair Scandinavian complexion was the norm among these people.1 The activities of the Viking Age (793–1066 AD) radically shaped the demograph
Sex education in Korea - the theme park that literally shows you what you need to do!
Montessori-inspired Asia learning activities and free printables for kids.
Resources and playlists to go along with the Gather Round Homeschool Asia Unit Study! Organize your unit study in half the time!
What are the things to do in manila in the Philippines? Visiting the historical sites, churches, local markets, and more. Let's explore this.
