Cloth folding
Folding cloth or paper is difficult for children, as they usually fold the cloth or paper unequally and the corners are never together. Children usually need an adult or a teacher to help them fold things neatly, so folding cloth in Montessori classes provides good practice for patient folding.
Cloth provides the perfect material for folding because you can fold cloth again and again with no waste.
Cloth folding
How do children learn to fold cloth?
In Montessori practical life, children learn how to fold sheets of material along different lines. To do this, there are specially printed cloths just for Montessori folding. You can buy these here.
On one cloth there is a dotted line going vertically. On another cloth, there is a horizontal line. On another, a diagonal line, and so on.
The child learns how to fold correctly, tracing down the line, and folding precisely on the line.
Looking for more Montessori activities?
Here is the full list of the Montessori tasks, including preliminary, elementary, applied exercises, and grace and courtesy. Just click on the activity you want to learn about to go there.