Maria Montessori (1870-1952) is the founder of the world-renowned educational curriculum called The Montessori Method. This way of learning doesn’t only encompass academic subjects, but it covers many aspects of life. Its root and main focus is the fostering of independence in the individual.

In this post, we will go a little into the Montessori curriculum approach to sensory education and we share a printable sheet for you to download and use in your environments.

Please remember to visit our resources hub for Montessori Curriculum 3-6 activities and lessons!

What is Sensorial Montessori at home all about?

First off, what is Sensorial in Montessori and why is it so important? Sensorial comes from the word “sensory.” It comes from the word “senses.” There are Montessori materials that focus on all of a child’s developing senses. There are more senses that human beings have than you think. Maria Montessori categorized the Exercises into nine different groups. These are Olfactory, Visual, Auditory, Gustatory, Muscular, Tactile, Baric, Thermic and Stereo Gnostic.

These senses are very important for a child’s optimal development. They are heightened the most in early life, approximately in the first six years of life. It is paramount that we harness this time and take advantage of the sensitive periods of development in which sensory development is crucial for life. These sensitive periods are times lapses during a child’s life where he/she has better aptitude for specific abilities and has keen interests in them. Later on, those interests and aptitudes disappear.

Montessori works refine the senses, making the child more in-tune with his/her surrounding world. All of the Sensorial works have definite purposes in mind. Some have several purposes, but all have at least one important purpose. It isn’t play and it isn’t sensory stimulation for provocation’s sake.

Montessori Book List

We will go in some depth on what each sense is and which Montessori works target each of them, but for more information, I highly recommend the titles below. In these books, you will find all of the information that you need on how to use each of these works.

Montessori from the Start: The Child at Home,How To Raise An Amazing Child the MontessoriThe Montessori MethodThe Absorbent MindMontessori: A Modern Approach: The Classic Introduction toTeach Me to Do It Myself: Montessori Activities

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1. Olfactory Montessori Method of Teaching

The olfactory sense is the sense of smell. It is important for a child to learn to distinguish different smells (putrid, pleasant, charred, fragrant, bitter, etc). Some Montessori works that fall under the Sensorial olfactory category are:

Smelling Bottles

Smelling Trays

2. Visual Maria Montessori Materials

The organ that is used for this sensorial work is the eye. The sense of sight is precious and by using this sense, children learn to develop depth perception, sizing quantities and even chromatography of color. Some Montessori works that fall under the Sensorial visual (sight) category are:

Pink Tower, Brown Stair, Red Rods

Cylinder Blocks, Knobless Cylinders, Color Tablets

Geometrical Shapes, Geometric Cabinet, Leaf Cabinet

Constructive Triangles (Triangular Box, Rectangular Triangles, Blue Rectangular Box, Small Hexagonal Box and Large Hexagonal Box)

Binomial Cube, Trinomial Cube

3. Auditory Montessori Sensorial Activities

This targets the sense of hearing. These sensory works focus on acoustics, volume and hearing in general. Music and music theory are included in this category as well, like pitch, noise, loud, low, tone, animal and human sounds and silence. Some Montessori works that fall under the Sensorial auditory category are:

Sound boxes (cylinders)

Bells Set

4. Gustatory Inexpensive Montessori Materials

The gustatory sense is the sense of taste. Why would it be important to help a child learn to distinguish different tastes? Well, for one, they inspire variety and openness to try new things. The child will learn the difference between a sweet taste, bitter, tart, salty, etc. The child will also learn how the tongue detects different tastes in different areas. Some Montessori works that fall under the Sensorial gustatory category are:

Tasting Trays

Tasting Bottles

Pixnor Montessori Wooden Cylinder Socket Family Pack EarlyMontessori Color Resemblance Sorting TaskWooden Montessori Mystery Bag Geometry Blocks Set EducationalMulticraft Imports 5-Piece Paintable Wooden Trays with Handles,

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5. Tactile Montessori Sensorial Ideas

The tactile sense is the sense of touch. Fingertips, lips and mouth are especially sensitive in children. They use them to explore their world quite a bit. In Montessori, they do works that teach the child to distinguish between smooth to rough and everything in-between. Some Montessori works that fall under the Sensorial tactile category are:

Intentional Finger Preparation

Touch Boards

Touch Tablets

Fabric Box

6. Stereo Gnostic Montessori Sensorial Mateirals

And now, let’s talk about the Stereo Gnostic sense. “Stereo” means “solid” in Greek. “Gnostic” means “having knowledge.” In other words, it means solid knowledge, but it isn’t based solely on the visual sense. This sense actually combines both the sense of sight and the kinesthetic sense to give the child the ability to detect, recognize and differentiate 3-dimensional objects.

Some Montessori works that fall under the Sensorial Stereo Gnostic category are:

Puzzles (maps, zoology, botany)

Sorting Trays

Tranferring Trays

Geometric Solids

Mystery Bag

Globes (painted and sandpaper)

7. Baric Montessori Method of Teaching

With the baric sense, the child will learn about the sense of the weight of objects. The child will learn to distinguish blunt and subtle weight differences. The child will also learn about weight distribution and how some objects are heavier than others, regardless of size. Some Montessori works that fall under the Sensorial baric category are:

Baric Tablets

Scale Activity

8. Thermic Montessori Sensorial Activities

As you may know, “thermic” comes from “thermal.” It refers to temperature. This sense teaches the child about temperature and how it varies from hot to cold and dry hot to very cold. From boiling to freezing. Additionally, the child will also learn that extreme temperatures are dangerous for life and how to avoid these. Some Montessori works that fall under the Sensory thermic category are:

The Thermic Tablets

Thermic Bottles

Thermic Foot Activity

Montessori Animal Puzzle Cabinet with 5 PuzzlesSmall World Board Puzzle 14 1/2Montessori USA Wooden Puzzle Map with Labeled andMontessori Sensorial Materials Thermic Tablets for Preschool Early

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9. Muscular Montessori Sensorial Mateirals

Finally, I am sure you have heard of the term “Kinesthetic.” That is exactly what the muscular sense is referring to. It creates in the child an awareness or movement. Big movements and small movements alike. This sense uses and includes all the muscles in the body, from the largest muscles in the legs to the smallest ones on the face. Some Montessori works that fall under the Sensorial muscular (kinesthetic) category are:

Muscle memory exercises

Repetitive muscular movement activities

Erratic muscular movement activities

Linear movement

Circular movement

Fast and slow movement

Upper  and lower body control

Montessori Materials Free Homeschool Printables

Now it’s your turn! Wasn’t this a great list? Get this entire list of 9 categories in printable form. Simply enter your email address below and check your inbox for the PDF download instructions. Enjoy!

In closing, I want to thank you for reading our The Montessori Curriculum Approach to Sensory Education {Printable} post!

You might also like:

Free Montessori Curriculum List & Resources {Printable}

Montessori Sound Boxes {Free Printable Nomenclature Cards}

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