Unlock Your Child’s Motor Skills with a Fun Montessori Activity: Dry Pouring (Solid)

As parents, we all want our children to develop essential skills that will help them throughout their lives. One area of development that is often overlooked is motor skills. Motor skills involve the use of muscles and coordination to perform tasks, and they are crucial for a child’s physical and mental development. In this blog post, we will explore a fun Montessori activity that can help your child unlock their motor skills – dry pouring! This activity is not only enjoyable for children, but it also promotes independence, concentration, and coordination. So, let’s get started and learn more about the benefits of dry pouring!

Dry Pouring (Solid)

Suitable Age: 2 1/2+

Materials: 

• A tray
• 2 small pitchers
• Dry goods (ex. rice or bath salt)

Direct Aim:

• To allow a child to pour dry goods from one container to another independently, and pour from right to left

Indirect Aim:

• Hand/finger muscle refinement
• Concentration
• Hand-eye coordination
• Independence

Presentation/ Child instruction: 

• Show the child where to place the tray on the table. Remember to always place the dry goods to the right of the empty container, if the child is right-handed.
• Lift up the container consisting of the dry goods and place it up above the second container, allowing the pouring spout to be as close as possible to the second container without touching it. Try to avoid arm/elbow movement while pouring the goods into the second container.
• Once the goods have been completely poured into the second container, invite the child to turn the tray around, and reset the tray to its original position.
• Invite the child to try the activity

Point of interest:

The appearance of the dried goods and the sound when pouring

Control of Error: 

• Moving the arm or lifting the elbow too high when pouring
• The spouts touching or banging one another
• Spilling the dry goods
• Difficulty pouring from right to left

>> Read more: Unlock Your Child’s Motor Skills with a Fun Montessori Activity: Wet Pouring (Liquids)