DIY Montessori sensorial activity – tactile matching boards are designed to refine and stimulate the sense of touch in toddlers and preschoolers.
Montessori tactile ~ also called ‘touch’ boards or tablets are designed to refine the sense of touch. Such materials create in a child a conscious awareness of the texture of the surface. Dr. Maria Montessori called this “An education of the hand.” That is a hand, which can touch lightly while internalizing and classifying the information about the texture, will later be able to write without pressing hard into the paper. Most importantly, you can easily make a DIY version of a tactile tablet Montessori sensorial activity using common household items and use these matching boards to refine the sense of touch.
YOU’LL NEED to Make DIY Tactile Matching Boards⠀
- recycled cardboard
- hot glue gun
- use contrasting textures (I am using rainbow rice, pebbles, millet, and salt)
- recycled milk or water caps (for matching)
INSTRUCTIONS
First, trace a larger circle and a smaller one (which is a recycled bottle cap) inside. Then, apply glue (liquid or hot glue) to the “donut” shape within (leave the middle circle empty). Lastly, sprinkle generously whatever you might find in your cupboard or nature shelf. Make sure to let it dry thoroughly. Next, offer a child to match to bottle cap to its larger circle. To increase the level of difficulty, use a blindfold to refine the stereognostic sense. Also, introduce language and discuss smooth, rough, roughest.
Montessori Touch Boards Presentation
Invite your child to touch different textures very lightly with the tips of the fingers and then match the corresponding caps. Invite to feel the cap texture with the left hand and matching with the right.
Montessori Sensorial Activity | Developing The Sense of Touch
The tactile sense is the sense of touch. For example, fingertips and skin, lips, and mouth are especially sensitive in children who use them to explore and classify their world. As such, in Montessori, Sensorial work that stimulates the tactile sense teaches a child to distinguish between smooth to rough and everything in-between.
Montessori Sensorial Activity Sense of Touch Materials

Some of the traditional tactile Montessori materials are Rough And Smooth Boards Set and Rough Gradation Tablets.
Sensory Tactile Board/Puzzle DIY Smooth and Rough Boards

Rough and smooth boards fall within the Haptic Sense of the Montessori sensorial works. These boards allow children to explore the sense of touch and learn to feel and classify the difference between textures.

Lastly, this DIY version has a matching component that promotes hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness, and problem-solving.
Have you ever made DIY Tactile Matching Boards? Leave a comment!
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