Safari Ltd transportation and animals Montessori sensorial sorting by land-water-air activity, helps children develop critical reasoning thinking and problem-solving skills.
I am calling all toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners to sort familiar and unfamiliar transportation units and animals by water, land, and air. In fact, adults are welcome to join as well since sorting is truly a timeless activity! Just think of it, we sort laundry, dishes, and cutlery, grocery, and mail. But, sorting is a learned skill! Although naturally, sorting exercises attract children who have an innate desire to make sense of their world and create order, sorting is still mastered with practice. For example, a Montessori sensorial sorting activity utilizes the abovementioned child’s natural inclination, however, it takes sorting a step further by teaching a child to organize and sort using all of the senses while working on careful discrimination.
WHY SORTING IS SO IMPORTANT
When children sort objects, they set them apart according to differences and similarities. For example, when the skill of comparing is triggered, a child has to determine whether an item has more, the same or less of that characteristic. Thus, when children engaged in classifying and sorting activities, they develop a range of reasoning skills while building a strong foundation for later problem solving and critical thinking.
So, with these easy to set up LAND-WATER-AIR Transportation | Animals SORT DIYs, your child will learn that things are similar and /or different as well as that objects can belong and be organized into specific groups. And trust me, your little one will LOVE sorting familiar and unfamiliar transportation units and animals by water, land, and air! Besides, the best part, is that you don’t need to ask Siri or search Google about item’s names since SafariLtd thoughtfully labeled each object! And, your little one can play SAFELY as ALL of Safari Ltd products are non-toxic and BPA free! (Hooray to companies that put the environment and our health first!) Most importantly, the setup should be minimal, and you can use items or toys readily available.
TRANSPORTATION LAND-WATER-AIR SORT
YOU’LL NEED for this Montessori Sensorial Sorting Activity
- Safari Ltd In the Sky, In the Water, and On the Road TOOBs (you get 20% OFF your entire order! No code is needed, just follow the link)
- recycled cardboard (I cut the top of the shoe-box)
- blue, green and white felt fabric sheets (you are welcome to use different colors)
First, offer your child to identify each transportation unit and place it according to where it belongs. For a non-reader toddler, clearly enunciate the name of each unit as the child places it on the felt-mat. If your little one can read, offer him/her to read the name of each unit (written on item’s ‘belly’). As such, this DIY, besides offering a great opportunity to enrich the vocabulary, also promotes fine motor practice and spatial awareness. Please note that you can introduce this activity to a toddler as young as 15 months because from age 15 till 19 months, the developmental milestone to learn to match objects emerges when your little one is starting to use the brainpower to match favorite toys.
Modifications: instead of using felts, explore your creativity and rather draw the water, land, and air on a cardboard or a large paper roll. Alternatively, you can use FLASAT table and storage bins. Fill one bin with water and blue food coloring. Next, fill the other with kinetic sand or dried red or black beans to represent a road/land. Finally, leave the other bin empty and add some cotton balls.
You can see this post on Instagram HERE.
ANIMALS LAND-WATER-AIR SORT
Here, I set an invitation to explore animal habitats through a fun small world invitation to play by sorting Safari Ltd animal TOOBs into water dwellers, land and air! This is another super easy DIY I made using felts. (Again, feel free to draw the habitats instead on a large paper roll or even cardboard.) Next, offer your child to choose an animal and place it on its corresponding habitat. Discuss the name of the animal and the ways they adapt to living in certain environments.
SKILLS MASTERED BY SORTING
- Hand-eye coordination, which is the ability to coordinate the information received through the eyes to control, guide, and direct the hands in the accomplishment of a given task.
- Fine motor control ~ when children practice small muscle hand control by tonging, pinching, transferring, threading, etc, they develop the strength, dexterity, and control needed to manipulate many everyday items such as a pencil, spoon, button, scissors, zippers, and more … “He does it with his hands, by experience, first in play and then through work. The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence.” ~ Dr. Maria Montessori. The Absorbent Mind.
- Dexterity ~ through these exercises children are perfecting skills and ease in using their hands.
- Spatial awareness (think of it as a DIY puzzle): by understanding the positioning of objects in relation to oneself in that given space, children gain an understanding of the relationship of these objects when there is a change of position.
- Problem-solving skills helps us think analytically (‘Hmm, where shall I place this item?’) thus advancing a child’s reasoning abilities.
- Matching, sorting and classifying
- Language development
Teach REAL before ABSTRACT
Also, Dr. Maria Montessori strongly advocated teaching young children about REAL animals/vehicles/places before introducing an ABSTRACT concept or a mythical creature! Thus, let children play first with REAL-LIFE replicas rather than pink elephants that fly or fairy creatures since a young child’s brain is NOT neurologically ready to distinguish fantasy from reality. As such the immature psychological state might construe fiction as reality causing confusion and even fear! And we do not want that from small world invitations to play and learn!
You can see this post on Instagram HERE.
Please, always supervise your children.
LAND-WATER-AIR Transportation | Animals SORT
Safari Ltd Toys That Teach:
Importantly, remember, that children are learning by doing! Most importantly, they cannot learn what they have not been given a chance to experience! As such, children need to TOUCH, TRANSFER, EXPLORE and INVESTIGATE! And Safari Ltd TOOBs are to the rescue since they are perfect for sorting, classifying and manipulating! Besides, these amazingly detailed hand-painted replicas are made from quality phthalates and lead-FREE safe materials. So, allow your children to SAFELY explore the world’s animals and transportation through simple and fun educational invitations to play and learn! And keep in mind, ‘what the hand does, the mind remembers!’ So, provide your child with ample opportunities for fun tactile sensory invitations to play, and offer simultaneous multi-sensorial stimulations to explore and learn to guarantee your child’s brain agility!
With the highest regard, this is a sponsored post with Safari Ltd. All opinions are my own and from the heart! Besides, I am so excited to collaborate with this amazing team that brings Toys That Teach to our children! You can read more about Safari Ltd ’s mission of “educating children about the importance of nature and its conservation through the joy of play” here.
I hope you enjoyed our LAND-WATER-AIR Transportation and Animals SORT! Leave a comment if you are inspired to give it a try and I will feature YOU in my Stories!
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