Montessori materials were premised on Dr. Montessori’s findings that children between ages three and six are concrete learners who first learn best through their senses. That is why she created various materials that recruit a child’s senses, such as the Sandpaper Globe and the Land and Water forms trays.
Children are only introduced to political geography after they have experienced physical geography, which teaches children about the natural boundaries of the Earth such as: peninsula, gulf, isthmus, strait, island, lake, bay, and cape.
By the time children formally learn about geography, their fingers have surveyed the Sandpaper Globe, Sandpaper Land and Water Form Cards, worked with Land and Water Form Trays. They intuitively memorized the differences between landforms and water forms. We would like to feature two of our best sellers in this post: Land and Water Form Cabinet for ages 3-6 and Geography Classified: Land and Water Forms Wooden Cards for ages 6-9.
Land and Water Form Cabinet
The land and water form cabinet is made of our premium quality material in Thailand. Premium quality material can withstand intensive use and last you for many years. The texture of the wood is smooth and extremely appealing to the senses. The contrastive colors of white and blue make it a visual stimulant for children. The material features flush edges to stimulate the senses one kinetic experience is being experienced. The cabinet comprises ten drawers with contrastive elements such as gulf and bay, peninsula and gulf, straits and isthmus, lake and island. Underneath each puzzle is a description of the water or landform in age-appropriate vocabulary. Elevated ridges allow children to implicitly understand the high elevation of land versus enclaved bodies of water. Children can use construction paper with the frames to trace water and landforms. This way, children can create their own version of the land and water forms and compile them in a booklet with a fancy cover. The work can be kept in a portfolio or taken home to share with their family.
Geography Classified: Land and Water Forms Wooden Cards
Our colorful Geography Classified: Land and Water Forms Wooden Cards are suitable for children age 5 and up. Children are delighted to work with this material. It consists of rectangular wooden frames with two movable pieces: one which provides a short description of the land or water form and one which provides the name of the land or water form. This material is an excellent extension of the classic land and water forms works. It introduces children to the wide diversity of landforms such as promontory, plateau, land table, canal, channel, cliff, cove, fjord, hill, spit, lagoon…
As a project, children can research additional land and water forms and create a collection of cards in the same format. They can work with a partner and challenge one another by placing the wooden frames across a working space and placing the names in front of them. After placing all the wooden labels, they can proceed the same way with the descriptions, which provides them with scientific literacy. Working with a partner reinforces collaboration and permanent knowledge acquisition!
We hope this article will have provided you with guidance about our innovative materials and how they can be utilized to enhance your children’s learning experience with physical geography beyond the classic Montessori materials. We believe in diverse learners and pride ourselves in providing learning opportunities for diverse learning styles while respecting the Montessori principles of child development. For more novel and classic Montessori materials, visit our website at www.alisonsmontessori.com.
