Your child’s first meeting with a dog may be a magical and memorable encounter. A wagging tail, a slobbery kiss, and a wet nose may be among the features that accompany the dog’s furry coat to leave a lasting impression.
Aside from using your own language to introduce this new creature to your child, try a fun game of matching with a set of cards and some toys that replicate these items.
The activity will familiarize your child with the words needed to describe the objects and create a link between the two-dimensional world of familiar items and the pictures that go with them.
By asking your child to associate the picture with the toy or object, they will find the words needed to describe both. Watch their language skills take flight in the process!
Matching Objects to Similar Cards by Jeanne Marie Paynel from voilamontessori.com
By matching cards to real life object your young child can now bridge the gap between their newly-discovered items and the proper vocabulary used to name them.
For more tips on how to introduce Montessori activities, read The Nine Key Points to Sharing a New Activity with Your Child.
P.S. Would you like my support and guidance setting-up your Montessori home? If, yes then go ahead and schedule a ‘Discovery Session’ with me. It’s free and you’ll know if we are a good fit. 😉
2 thoughts on “Matching Objects to Similar Cards”
I love this idea, and matching 3D to 2D seems like an important and challenging skill that I wouldn’t necessarily think to emphasize! On your 9 points for sharing a new activity, I see that #8 is “Do not interrupt or correct once your child is engaged.” That’s hard for me! With this activity do you allow them to match all of the animals to cards, and then just put them away and move on to a new activity? I feel the impulse to process and talk about the features of the animal that they notice in both the toy and picture representations and things like that, but I also know that I tend to praise/evaluate too much. Is there no role for affirmation or correction?
Tiffany, thank you for your comment, you bring up a very good point. This is something to work towards, being a scientific observer and not interrupting is something that needs much practice. As for engaging with your child, I would follow your child if you see there is a need for conversation then, by all means, do so. As for praise, we must remember children do things for their own self-construction not to receive external praise, so encourage the effort and the progress you witness. It seems that if we simply praise for the sake of it, we raise ‘approval junkies’ taking away the intrinsic value of their actions.