Montessori Musings: DIY Moveable Alphabet

The moveable alphabet is one of my favorite Montessori materials and one that I use the most both in my English classes and with my own children. I have a really nice wooden one purchased from a German company for 90 Euros that I use at school:

However, I have been wanting a second one for use at home with my children for after-school activities. Without a car, it quickly got old carrying the big one to and from school.  I've seen some really great ideas on the internet (see this post from Living Montessori Now and this one from What did we do all day?), and decided to give a DIY a try.  It turned out to be an adventure!

First, I purchased these wooden craft letters called "Woodsies" that cost around $10. I chose them because there was a label on the package that told how many of each letter were supposed to inside.  I say "supposed to be", because in reality the letters G, Q and X were completely missing!  I was a little mad about that and had to make the missing letters out of stiff cardboard. For that reason, I would not recommend this particular brand of wooden letters.

I then painted the consonants red and the vowels blue according to standard Montessori procedure. There were also some numbers included, so I painted them green, since the sandpaper Montessori numbers are always on green boards.

For the case, I purchased this box with 32 compartments for about 5 Euros on Amazon. The measurements of the compartments were not included in the description, so I just crossed my fingers that the letters would fit in. They did! Definitely worth the money!

This project took a lot of time and effort, but it did save me about 70 Euros, which made it worth it. The missing wooden letters were particularly frustrating! But my daughter really loves the smaller moveable alphabet, because she can find the letters easier. And I can easily stick it in my backpack as a second moveable alphabet for my classroom on the days that I need it.

linked to Montessori Monday at Living Montessori Now

Montessori Musings: Sound Cylinders/Geräuschdosen

Handmade set of 6 Sound Cylinders.
Handgemachtes Set von 6 Geräuschdosen.

We did a lot of baking during Advent this year and used a lot of cookie decorating sprinkles. Dr. Oetker, the German Betty Crocker, sells their sprinkles in plastic cylinders. Each time one of those cylinders was empty, I thought to myself, "What a waste to throw these away . . . I should make something out of them." But what? Wir haben während Advent oft gebacken und deswegen viel Gebackschmück gekauft. Bei Dr. Oetker gibt's das Zeug in netten Plastikdosen. Es tat mir immer Leid die Dosen einfach wegzuschmeissen, und ich habe mich gefragt, was ich aus ihnen machen könnten.

And then when pondering what sort of educational and age-appropriate gift to give a friend's two-year-old son, I had an idea. They'd be perfect for homemade Montessori sound cylinders. Sound cylinders are part of the standard Montessori Sensorial materials for preschoolers. They come in two colors and the child must figure out which two cylinders make the same sound. A cylinder from each color corresponds to one of the other color.  Als ich überlegte, was ich dem zweijährigen Sohn einer Freundin schenken könnte, das altersgerecht und pädagogisch sinnvoll wäre, habe ich plötzlich eine Idee bekommen. Sie wären perfekt für Montessori Geräuschdosen! Geräuschdosen gehören zu Sinnesmaterial in der Montessori Kindergartenpädagogik. Sie bestehen aus Dosen in zwei Farben. Das Kind muss die Geräusche unterscheiden und die entsprechenden Paare aussuchen. 

This is how the original cylinders looked.
Die Dosen von Dr. Oetker sahen so aus.

Step 1: Paint the insides of the cylinders. Mine took 2 days to dry.
Schritt 1: Male die Innenseite der Dosen. Meine haben 2 Tage gebraucht auszutrocknen.

Step 2: Fill with granular material. I used decorative gravel, polenta and glass beads.
Step 3: Glue the lids with a non-toxic glue.
Schritt 2: Fülle die Dosen mit fein- und grobkörnigem Material.
(Ich habe Maisgrieß, Kieselsteine und Glassteine benutzt.)
Schritt 3: Klebe die Deckel mit giftfreiem Bastelleim.

I also included a note explaining to our small friend's parents the purpose of the Sound Cylinders and for safety reasons to only let him play with them when they were in the room. (Just in case he somehow managed to get them open!) Ich habe auch Hinweise an den Eltern von dem Kleinen geschrieben und sie aus Sicherheitsgründen gebeten, dass er nur mir den Dosen in ihrer Gegenwart spielt. (In dem Fall, dass er die Deckel doch offen kriegen könnte!)

Our small friend received his gift on New Year's Eve and played with it on and off the whole evening happily comparing each sound to the others! Unser kleiner Freund hat sein Geschenk zu Sylvester bekommen und die Freude war groß!

linked to Montessori Monday