Unlock Your Child’s Motor Skills with a Fun Montessori Activity: Unglue a Stamp

Child development is an incredibly important topic for parents and educators alike. As children grow and learn, it’s important to help them develop a range of skills that will serve them well throughout their lives. One area of development that is often overlooked is motor skills. The ability to control one’s movements is crucial for everything from writing to sports, and it’s something that needs to be developed from a young age. Fortunately, there are many fun activities that can help children develop their motor skills, and one of the most effective is a Montessori activity known as “ungluing a stamp”. In this blog post, we’ll explore this activity in depth and show you how it can help your child reach their full potential.

Unglue a stamp

Suitable Age: 3 1/2+

Materials: 

• A tray consisting of a small pitcher (with a line)
• 2 small sponges
• A small box containing stamps that have been glued to an envelope (and cut out)
• Tweezers
• A small sand timer
• A small dish
• A placemat
• A piece of paper towel
• A bucket for water activities

Direct Aim:

• To transfer water into a glass, using an eyedropper independently

Indirect Aim:

• Refining of the muscles in the hand
• Concentration
• Hand-eye coordination
• Independence
• Sequence from left to right

Presentation/ Child instruction: 

1. Invite the child to fill the pitcher with warm water (to the line).
2. Once she has returned, ask her to pour a little of the water from the pitcher into the small dish.
3. When the child has poured the water into the small dish, she will carefully apply the dripping sponge to the spout of the jug to prevent any dripping.
4. Pick up the tweezers and remind the child how to use the tweezers using three finger grasp (the child should already be familiar with the grasping of the tweezers).
5. Invite the child to open the box and you will use the tweezers to select a stamp from the box. Once the stamp has been selected, place the stamp facing down inside the small dish of water. Ask the child to turn the minute timer over and wait.
6. Once all the sand has dropped from the minute timer, take the stamp out of the water using the tweezers and carefully try to pull it away from the envelope it is glued on (without tearing the stamp).
7. If the stamp has not been quite unglued fully, place it back into the dish of warm water.
8. After the stamp has been removed from the paper, invite the child to try it.
9. After a few attempts, the child will be able to peel (unglue) the stamp from the envelope. Once this has been accomplished, the child may place the stamp onto the tray, while she tidies up her work area.
10. First, the child is to empty out the excess water from the dish and into the bucker. Then she will pour the remaining water from the pitcher into the dish (in order to remove any excess glue from the dish) and then empty out all the water from the dish. She will pick up the paper towel and dry the small dish.
11. The child will then replace all items back onto the tray – she may keep the stamp and take it home.

Point of interest:

• To be able to unglue a stamp independently

Control of Error: 

• Tearing the stamp
• Spilling water
• The stamp doesn’t unglue easily
• Difficulty following the sequence
• Difficulty waiting for the timer
• Unable to complete the activity

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