Sponging
In a Montessori Practical Life classroom, you will find a very fun activity called Sponging. Children seem to enjoy this activity very much as they work with water, and what child doesn’t like to play with water?
Sponging in Practical Life
Setting up ‘sponging’
Children will have two bowls next to each other on a tray. The bowl on the left-hand side is full of water and the bowl on the right-hand side is empty. There is a sponge at the bottom of the tray.
Sponging in Practical Life
What to do in sponging and why it is good for the child
Children sponge water from the left-hand side bowl to the right-hand side bowl and then back again. Children learn how water is absorbed by the sponge and then how squeezing the sponge releases the water. Children have to be patient as they have to soak up all of the water from the bowl. Sponging water teaches them concentration, preparation for reading, and writing from left to right. The children also practice crossing the midline. This is where they use their dominant hand to cross over their body to pick things up from their non-dominant hand side. Sponging up water also helps to develop children’s hand and finger muscles when soaking up the water and squeezing it out.
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.