Another exciting month of the 12 Months of Montessori Learning! For our focus on fine arts, the kids and I decided to explore writing materials!
We have have an amazing year with the 12 Months of Montessori Learning series. Check back next year for more amazing themed posts from many very talented Montessori bloggers. Don’t forget to check all the links at the bottom of this post for all the great fine arts posts.
This is really great for working with fine motor skills and allowing their creativity to run. Writing also helps with language development as children are learning new words and their meaning.
This was also a fun way to experiment with texture, shapes, and line thicknesses. We talked about how certain materials would make a thin line and others made a thick line. We also talked about which ones were hard or smooth, etc.
In addition to writing materials, we also talked about different types of art supplies in general.
Explore Writing Materials with Kids
Both of my kids have loved writing from an early age. They observe me writing lists and always want to mimic what I do. For this fun discovery, we tried out several types of writing materials. Opening the kids horizons to more than a pencil and paper has been very rewarding. (Don’t forget to try out these fun writing materials yourself!)
Explore Writing with Paintbrush and Watercolors
Water colors can be a little tricky to paint with, but the kids love exploring the different colors. We noticed how to much water makes the paints runny and the color faint. We noticed how the paintbrush made wide strokes and different paintbrushes made different strokes. Setting up this activities at different times of the year is very rewarding especially as your child’s skill increases.
Explore Writing with Sharpie
This is a VERY special event. I don’t typically give my 3 and 5 year olds permanent Sharpie, but recently I have found a lot of stress relief from adult coloring pages. My kids requested their own. I was astonished at how serious they were about their coloring. They chose all their own colors and have done an amazing job with this sometimes daunting writing materia
Explore Writing with Nature
Grab a branch of a tree and use it as a paintbrush! Notice the different type of strokes that are made and how it is harder to pick up paint with waxy leaves. We used a fir branch, but you are welcome to try several and explore!
Explore other types of writing materials outside the house. What would a tree branch do? Maybe a rock. Give them a try to see how they affect the drawings! Your kids will have lots of fun exploring this new material!
Explore Writing with Magic Board
This is a really wonderful writing experience. Using an ancient Asian style calligraphy brush, we wrote on our magic board. This board dries on it’s own and can be used over and over again. It’s a really amazing writing material!
Discovery is an amazing process. When we expose our kids to lots of different types of materials, they are able to explore and discover how each material works with their own unique style.
Don’t forget to check out all the wonderful posts from the 12 Months of Montessori Learning team!
Montessori Art Inspired by Nature (Free Printables) Natural Beach Living
5 Great Ancient Civilizations: Art & Architecture (Activities & Free Printables) | The Natural Homeschool
Art Postcards: Montessori Art Appreciation for a Variety of Ages Living Montessori Now
Our Montessori Art Environment | Planting Peas
DIY Art Cards for Montessori Learning The Kavanaugh Report
Montessori Art Appreciation for Toddlers Mama’s Happy Hive
Preparing Children for Their First Fine Arts Experience Every Star is Different
Our Montessori Art Program Grace and Green Pastures
What a neat idea! I love it! I’m sure my kiddos would think the same thing. It’s so interesting how the simplest skills, such as writing can be turned into such fabulous art activities, especially when comparing and contrasting.
Renae’ last post was: Preparing Children for Their First Fine Arts Experience
I love it when my children explore with writing utensils, too, conventional and unconventional. 🙂
Love the ideas!
The Natural Homeschool’ last post was: 5 Great Ancient Civilizations: Art & Architecture (Activities & Free Printables)
Wonderful! I love the different ideas you shared and I love coloring with the kids too 🙂
kimberly’ last post was: Montessori Art Inspired by Nature (Free Printables)
It’s funny you mentioned Sharpies, because Sharpies are off-limits since they are permanent. But I often find my oldest wanting to use the Sharpies … and I know precisely why. The quality and vibrancy is just so much better than the regular washable markers. Oh my heart … can I do it?
Elaine’ last post was: Our Montessori Art Environment
This looks like so much fun! I love all the different mediums that you let your children explore. 🙂 This gives me ideas for Little Bee… 🙂
Thank you for sharing so many wonderful ideas! The activities are very inviting. I love the idea of using a tree branch.
Bess’ last post was: Our Montessori Art Program
This is definitely an incredibly rich resource that you have spent so much valuable time developing, I’ll recommend it to parents at our school as well as link to it in our Montessori Resources section so that our teachers can take a look. Thanks!
What an amazing idea! I will show my kids so that she is inspired. She doesn’t like coloring but she likes read. That’s why your post is so helpful. Not only me but also another person. This is really helpful post and I like it.
These are great ideas. Thanks for sharing.
My niece goes to a Montessori school and it’s so much better than regular schools. Really love Montessori!
one of the best thing to teach your kids is the art. Help them discover their creative minds when it comes to sketching and painting and the likes.
Ha! You posted this five years ago, but it’s quite
timely today with the covid pandemic and learning
at home.