Montessori Tactile Sensory Craft-Sticks

Montessori tactile sensory craft-sticks DIY is designed for babies, toddlers and preschoolers to help develop and refine the tactile sense through a hands-on exploration of different textures.

Although I embrace Montessori from the heart, the materials can be pricy and some are short-lived! So, my goal is to bring Montessori to you on a budget with easy DIYs that you can make from recycled items or things around your home! Besides, to make these Montessori tactile sensory craft-sticks, you will need just one item ~ craft sticks, along with some loose items that you can find around the house. Most importantly, this Montessori sensorial activity will advance many skills, whether you have a toddler, preschooler, or kindergartner. Lastly, this activity is perfect for homeschooling since you can make it in a very short time with materials readily available!

Supplies

Here is a list of materials you need to make tactile sensory craft sticks:

• craft sticks
• a hot glue gun
• loose items

Loose Items We Used:

• tiny pom poms
• black bean
• colorful paper clips
• pebbles from the beach
• plastic straws
• bow-pasta
• feathers
• rolled pipe cleaners
• dyed rice
• googly eyes
• dyed chickpeas

Instructions:

Montessori tactile sensory craft-sticks are very easy to make.

First, choose which loose items are most appealing to your child.

Then, hot glue them securely to craft sticks.

Finally, offer your child to explore the textures safely.

Baby Modification

If loose items are glued securely, and you are supervising that the child is not putting anything in the mouth, you can even introduce these tactile craft sticks during tummy times (AGE 4 M+). Alternatively, you can tape craft sticks to the table or another flat surface, so that the child can explore them safely without potentially putting them in the mouth.

Please, always supervise your child.

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Montessori Tactile Sensory Craft-Sticks Preschooler Modification

For older children, offer a blindfold. First, let them explore the textures and identify each while having their eyes open. Then, offer to cover the eyes, isolating the tactile sense, and invite them to feel and tell you what each texture is.

Why Is Tactile Stimulation Important?

“What the hand does, the mind remembers.”

Dr. Montessori

We can hardly resist touching a cute animal, a silky flower petal, or a baby! Through the tactile sense, we learn about the world around us, and little people are no exception. In fact, through tactile exploration, children experience their environment more fully, gather information about the surroundings, and can make connections and classify things. In fact, the sensation of touch is essential to our daily lives as it is a pivotal interface between the body and the outside world. Thus, when children feel or touch something, they gather multiple informative cues about that object. Is the object soft? Hard, squishy, slippery, smooth, silky, and so forth.

As such, tactile stimulation is extremely important for the developing brain since the “sensitive period” (which Dr. Montessori defined as a period of special sensitivity to a particular stimulus) from birth till the age of five is sensory refinement. So, to facilitate this refinement, we should be setting inviting and engaging invitations to play! Yes, to play! “Play is the work of the child!” In fact, children are learning more through play than through workbooks! Through the power of tactile play, they are triggering multiple sensory stimuli since whatever is perceived through the hand goes directly to the brain! And it is crucial that we leverage a child’s innate sensitivity to acquiring and refining sensory skills during the first five/six years since once the ‘window’ closes, the interest and the ability to absorb the skill effortlessly disappear.

Have you tried making Montessori Tactile Sensory Craft-Sticks?

Leave a comment if you did!

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For More Montessori Tactile Activities

Click here to see how to make tactile balloons.

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♡ Enriching the Mind one Heart at a time ♡