Unlock Your Child’s Motor Skills with a Fun Montessori Activity: Gluing work

As parents, we’re always looking for ways to help our children grow and develop. One of the essential components of a child’s development is their motor skills. Developing motor skills helps children build strength, coordination, and control over their bodies. There are many activities that parents can do to help their children develop their motor skills, but one, in particular, stands out: gluing work. In this blog post, we’ll explore how this fun Montessori activity can help unlock your child’s motor skills and promote their overall development. So, let’s get started!

Gluing Work

Suitable Age: 3 1/2+

Materials: 

• A tray consisting of:
  • Glue
  • A paint brush
  • A pencil
  • Water
• A 2nd tray consisting of:
  • A dish
  • Assorted pieces of paper cutouts
  • Small sheets of construction paper (5.5 x 5.5 inches with little dots or X’s drawn here and there)
• A placemat
• Paper towel
• A bucket for water activities

Direct Aim:

• To glue/paste independently

Indirect Aim:

• Refined movement of the muscles in the hands
• Concentration
• Hand-eye coordination
• Independence
• Fine motor skills
• Order of sequence

Presentation/ Child instruction: 

1. Invite the child to choose a sheet of construction paper and place it in front of the tray on the placemat and paper towel. Show him to choose the number of cutouts to correspond to the dots or X’S and place them in the small dish.
2. Begin by picking up the brush and a small piece of paper, and apply some glue to a dot or X on the sheet of paper. Then apply a small piece of paper onto the construction paper to the design. Allow the child to continue with the rest of the activity.
3. Once the child is finished gluing the paper on the dots or X’s, write his name and the date on the bottom of the artwork. He may take it home at the end of the day, week, or month, or add it to his special box or belongings.
4. The child is now ready to clean up. He will use the water to rinse the brush in the small dish, and then empty out any excess water into the bucket. The child will use the paper towel to dry the brush, the dish, and any drops of water which may have dripped.
5. After tidying up and arranging all the items back to their original condition, he may take the trays back to their location on the shelf.

Point of interest:

• The colorful sheets of construction paper with the dots or X’S, the various colors/sizes of the small cutouts, the glue, the paintbrush, and making a work of art

Control of Error: 

• Difficulty applying enough glue
• Using too much glue
• Missing dots or  X’s on the paper
• Difficulty gluing the cutouts on the indicated places

>> Read more: Unlock Your Child’s Motor Skills with a Fun Montessori Activity: Cutting on the line