Celebrating Maria Montessori’s Birthday in the Montessori Classroom

Maria Montessori was born one hundred and forty years ago on August 31st. As Montessori teachers, we owe much to this dynamic and innovative woman! To honor Maria Montessori, celebrate Montessori’s birthday with your students – they will enjoy learning about her life and will take pride in activities inspired by her.

Here are some ideas for activities to celebrate Maria Montessori’s birthday:

• Use Montessori’s birthday as an opportunity to foster school spirit and appreciation. Have a discussion with your students about how going to a Montessori school can be a unique experience. Have each student write about their favorite aspect of going to a Montessori school (you can record this information for younger students) through stories or poems and display them in your Montessori school or highlight some of their impressions in your school newsletter.
• Do a “walk around the sun” for Maria Montessori. Light a candle to represent the sun (or use a battery-operated light if an open flame is not an option) and have your students sit around it in a circle. Have students take turns walking around the sun while holding a globe (each trip represents one year). You can either do enough trips around the sun to represent how old Maria Montessori lived or the total one hundred forty years since she was born.
• With your students, explore the Montessori math materials (such as bead chains, etc.) while using the number 140.
• In honor of Maria Montessori’s altruistic spirit, your Montessori students may enjoy organizing a service opportunity. Older students and younger students can collaborate to help with tasks on campus, or students may choose an off-campus volunteer opportunity at a hospital, shelter, or other organization with need.
• Create a timeline that shows Maria Montessori’s life with corresponding historical world events.
• Students can write historical fiction from the perspective of Maria Montessori or one of her first students.
• Become internet pen pals with students at another Montessori school and share facts about Maria Montessori.

Resources:

• Maria Montessori: A Biography (Radcliffe Biography Series), by Rita Kramer
• Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work, by E. M. Standing

As much as possible, NAMC’s web blog reflects the Montessori curriculum as provided in its teacher training programs. We realize and respect that Montessori schools are unique and may vary their schedules and offerings in accordance with the needs of their individual communities. We hope that our readers will find our articles useful and inspiring as a contribution to the global Montessori community.
© North American Montessori Center - originally posted in its entirety at Montessori Teacher Training on Thursday, August 19, 2010.