Last night, we had an impromptu homeschooling session. I was working with A (almost 2 years old) when K (4 years old) walked in, so I immediately adjusted the lesson to use with two children.
These activities can be as simple or as elaborate as you want. 

Montessori at home-Inspired Activity #1: Dinosaur Sort
These are materials from the dollar store, so I spent a total of US$3.

Materials needed:
– a mat or small rug or even a towel (no need to buy, just find one that you have in your house)
– a muffin tin (or two)
– a bag with a variety of plastic dinosaurs

How to:
– Place a mat, rug or towel in front of child.
– Put the muffin tin(s) and the dinosaurs on the mat.
– Pick six dinosaurs that are different and put one in each muffin tin space.
– Go through the rest of the dinosaur pile and find those that match with the ones in the muffin tin spaces.
– When done, return all dinosaurs back to the pile and repeat with different dinosaurs.

We had so much fun making different varieties of groups to sort.

Montessori-Inspired Sorting Activity #2: Seashell Sort
These shells were also purchased at the dollar store (it is amazing what treasures these stores can have).

Materials needed:
– a mat or small rug or even a towel (no need to buy, just find one that you have in your house)
– a muffin tin (or two)
– a bag with a variety of seashells

How to:
– Place a mat, rug or towel in front of child.
– Put the muffin tin(s) and the seashells on the mat.
– Pick six shells that are different and put one in each muffin tin space.
– Go through the rest of the seashell pile and find those that match with the ones in the muffin tin spaces.
– When done, return all seashells back to the pile and repeat with different dinosaurs.

Other Montessori-Inspired Sorting Ideas
Use:
– giants beads (see picture below) to sort by color, size or shape
– glass beads in different shapes, sizes and/or colors (from the dollar store)
– pompoms in different sizes and/or colors
– mini erasers in different shapes (see picture below, also from the dollar store)
– mixed nuts tin
– colored pasta (in different shapes and colors)
– Legos
– marbles
– grapes in different colors
– Chex mix
– different kinds of cereals, mixed

Note: Never leave children unattended, no matter the age, because some of these pose choking hazards.

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