Montessori Fun Comes to a Grind

Nina Grinding Herbs and Corn

Yesterday, while we were visiting the Patuxet Pavilion, the kids had a chance to grind Indian corn and herbs in a traditional mortar and pestle.  Who knew it could be such fun?

Luke at the Grinding Spot... Again!  (He loved this activity.)

Who knew it would invite a child to come try again and again, promoting concentration while also offering some hand heavywork ?

I do now!

So, this morning as I prepare foods for our annual homeschool co-op Thanksgiving luncheon, I have been thinking about how to add grinding activities to our Practical Life pursuits.

A quick search online brought me to several other Montessori-inpired mommas and educators who have children grinding away:

• Shannon from Totschool suggests grinding egg shells.
• The Wonder Years' mom set up a peppercorn mortar and pestle activity.
• Montessori Teaching's does graham cracker grinding for making cheesecake.

While the interest is there among my children, I definitely want to bring our kitchen help to a grind.  Thus, it's time for me to look for the ceramic mortar and wooden pestle that I tucked away some time ago as a fragile artifact from my Japan days.  It would be better used by my kiddoes now than it is stored in the back of a cabinet!

What new Practical Life activities are your children showing an interest in and how can you encourage it?

 Want to be inspired with others' Montessori ideas an work?  Click on over to Montessori Monday and enjoy.