Most “Practical Life” activities are things that parents would be doing with their kids anyway. I’ve enjoyed the ideas from the Montessori school of learning and think they’ve helped me to teach my kids and spend more time working with them.

Food Preparation

Care of the Environment

I won’t have pictures of all of these, but here are some activities: wringing a wet cloth, washing a table, dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, spot-washing a floor, mopping, washing windows, sorting silverware, folding towels, washing and drying dishes, etc. Small children can learn all of these skills.

Grace and Courtesy

Believe it or not, there are lessons on walking. :) My favorite is putting a painter’s tape line on the floor and having the kids carefully walk on the line.

In this category, kids learn how to carry materials to and from their work spaces, call someone on the phone, cover mouth while coughing or sneezing, etc.

Transferring Objects

Practical Life skills prepare the child’s fine motor skills for later activities. It takes a lot of care and fine motor abilities to pour a glass of water, for example. So we start with learning to pour large objects, then slowly decreasing the size until the child’s muscles and coordination are developed enough for that harder task.

I used small pitchers or measuring cups, and let the kids pour fuzzy balls from one pitcher to another. Small cafeteria trays are excellent for defining the work space (although in the picture on the right, you can see that little Adam didn’t stay within it).

After fuzzy balls, I let them try beans, then lentils, then rice, then finally water.

The child can also learn to transfer the objects with a spoon from one bowl to another.

Tongs are another good challenge, though you need to find tongs that are easy for the child to grasp.

Eyedroppers are also fun.

Kids can do so many things in the kitchen! They have a lot of fun and feel important when they are preparing food for themselves and the family. It’s great bonding time, too!

Forsmallhands.com has some excellent child-size, child-friendly kitchen utensils, which help with safety. I also bought a few cheap, kid-sized aprons from Robert’s.

Self Care

This category includes things like washing hands, dressing and undressing oneself, brushing teeth and hair, etc.

I made my own “Dressing Frames” for learning to zip, snap, button, tie, etc. I bought picture frames from the Dollar Store, sewed pieces of scrap fabric I had at home, and attached them with furniture brads. I left the glass in the frame since it’s easier to manage the exercise. I put a sentence inside each one saying, “I can ____!”

Outside Work

I’m a sucker for child-size anything! I found working gloves, gardening gloves, rakes, brooms, etc. all child-size. It’s fun for the kids to work with equipment that fits them.