Luke tests the water temperature, puts a cloth over Brother to keep him warm, and washes his front side. |
Luke washes Brother's back side. |
Luke dries Brother and cuddles him, so he will be warm and cozy. |
So, here’s our little Car Washing Practical Life Album Page
Materials:
- a large cloth or blanket
- vinegar-solution spray bottles
- a roll of paper towels
- a vacuum and extension cord
- a dustbuster
- a hose
- a bucket
- dish detergent
- small cloths and towels
and, of course, one very dirty car!
and, of course, one very dirty car!
Presentation:
- Invite a child to lay out a cloth on the lawn.
- Demonstrate how to very carefully remove all items from the vehicle.
- Wonder aloud together at how much stuff can fit in one vehicle!
Part Two – Wiping Down the Vehicle’s Interior
- After struggling to take the seats out of the vehicle, invite children to clean the interior.
- Offer each child spray bottles with vinegar-solution in them.
- Demonstrate how to spray the interior walls, floor and other “hard parts” of the vehicle, including windows, wiping with paper towels until clean and dry.
- Marvel at how much better the car is already looking while collecting nearly an entire roll of dirtied paper towels.
Part Three – Cleaning the Vehicle Floors
- After plugging in a vaccum to a long extension cord and dragging it to the car, ask children to simply help by watching and stauing out of the car.
- When children get too eager to offer more hands-on help, invite them to take turns using the dust buster on the larger areas of the vehicle’s floors while you.
- Position oneself in very odd ways to get into every nook and cranny in the vehicle.
- Guffaw at just how much gunk must be emptied from the vacuum and dust buster.
Part Four—Washing the Vehicle
Not all things can be totally independent. |
Such concentration. |
- After an eating break (with more practical life, such as setting the table) and before the EEE mosquitoes come out full force for the evening, holding folks hostage inside, acquiesce to children’s desire to finish the car cleaning job with a car wash.
- Invite children to drag the hose toward the car.
- Invite them to gather small cloths and towels.
- Witness them eagerly pouring a generous – but not too generous – amount of dishwashing detergent in a bucket and filling it with water.
- Allow children to spray the entire car down with a hose.
- Demonstrate how to scrub-scrub-scrub (gently and methodically as possible) the exterior of the vehicle with sudsy cloths.
- Have Daddy hold children up so they can clean the vehicle’s roof.
- Encourage children to rinse all the suds off with the hose before they dry on the vehicle.
- Quickly clean up and run back inside upon seeing the first of the aforementioned hostage-holding EEE mosquitoes.
- From the window, marvel at the newly cleaned vehicle and discuss how to keep it that way a little better, so we don’t spend an ENTIRE day cleaning it again.
Variations and Extensions
- Wheelie Toy Cleaning
- Creating a sizable pile of “stuff” that has been taken out of the car.
- Spraying the solution and wiping it off – making things shiny and clean!
- Seeing the dust and gunk get “eaten" by the dustbuster.
- Spraying water and splashing suds. -- and running from them!
- items left in car (we found a stray item or two under a seat, but cleared them out.)
- vehicle interior walls dirty or stained (got to get that elbow grease going)
- visible particle on the vehicle floor
- dirt spots left on the car
Aims
Sensory + Skills! |
Age
Language
car, vehicle, spray, gentle, vacuum, crevices, etc.
A little tongue-in-cheek? Perhaps. But, in the spirit of everyday Montessori homeschooling life! Not to mention some free -- and productive -- outdoor family fun.
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3 comments:
I have a car that needs cleaning badly over here - perhaps you could send your crew on by!
This is fantastic!! Can I borrow Luke for a couple of hours? (lol)
So sweet how Luke helped to wash his baby bro...
nice job with the car washing too. We were planning on washing ours today, but instead, we are having a storm so it is getting washed from Heaven!
Happy Tuesday!
Colleen:)
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