Fun Easter Curriculum Activities for Montessori Preschool Classrooms

With Easter just around the corner, we decided to enrich each area of our Montessori preschool classroom with Montessori-inspired Easter activities, and the children have been thoroughly enjoying them! I have always found that seasonal activities help to renew a child’s interest in the classroom and the ideas for enriching a Montessori environment are endless.

Fun Easter Curriculum Activities for Montessori Preschool Classrooms

I have included some examples of activities that are currently in our Montessori classroom community; I hope you enjoy them.

Sensorial Activities help refine the child's senses.

Sound Shakers

At the dollar store I bought a package of plastic Easter eggs, and filled them with different materials (salt, rice, pebbles, beans, etc) making sure there were two of each. I then used a glue gun to seal the eggs closed, and placed them in a basket on the Montessori Sensorial shelf. The children have enjoyed shaking them to try and pair together the eggs that sound the same … a great way to refine a child’s auditory sense!

Color Tablets

A fun activity that I have been implementing for years incorporates the color tablets, and it is such a cheerful way to help reinforce color recognition. First, the child places the Color Tablets Box 2 on a floor mat, and pairs the twenty-two tablets together. While the child is pairing the tablets, I take a basket of eleven plastic eggs that match the colors of each color tablet (red, yellow, blue, green, orange, purple, pink, brown, black, white, grey) and hide them throughout the classroom. The student then chooses one color tablet from the mat, identifies the color, and searches the classroom to find the matching egg. Each time the correct egg is found, it is brought back to the mat and placed together with the corresponding color tablet pair.

Practical Life Activities help develop fine motor control.

Tongs and PomPoms

The following transferring work is done with an egg carton, colored pompoms and tongs/tweezers. Colored dots have been made with felt markers and placed inside the carton. My Montessori students are encouraged to match each pompom to the correct colored compartment. In a left to right motion, the child uses the tongs/tweezers to transfer the colored pompoms into the egg carton.

Egg Flipping

I created some eggs out of fun foam, and the children enjoy using a spatula to flip over each of the eggs in the miniature frying pan. This is a great activity that focuses on wrist control.

Transferring Foam Eggs

I found a wonderful package of sparkly foam eggs at my dollar store and the children love them! They enjoy using tongs or a spoon to transfer the eggs from one basket to the other. It is a great activity for promoting concentration and refining a child's fine motor control and hand/eye co-ordination.

Transferring Colored Bunnies

I came across these little bunnies in a thrift store, and they are the perfect size for a transferring activity. The children enjoy using tweezers or tongs to transfer the bunnies from the basket to fill up the ice cube tray.

Spooning Eggs

Spooning is a wonderful activity that encourages hand-eye coordination and helps the Montessori preschool student to focus on spooning without spilling. For this activity, the child uses a spoon to scoop up egg-shaped beads into a silicone egg mould.

Tongs and Bunny Tray

This is another entertaining tonging activity which has been very popular this year. The bunny tray was found at a garage sale, and the child’s job is to pick up each egg with the tongs and transfer it to the bunny tray … it is far more challenging than it sounds!

Math Activities reinforce number recognition, counting, and basic operations.

Number Cards and Egg Counters

An extension of the traditional Montessori Cards and Counters activity, whereby the child places the numbers 1 through 9 in the correct order on a table or floor mat, and then counts out the correct quantity below each numeral.

Duck and Rabbit Addition

I found the cutest little duck and rabbit erasers at the dollar store and wow, have they inspired many of the Montessori students in my class to practice addition! Students simply place the first quantity in the first dish, the second quantity in the second dish, and then put both quantities together in the third dish to show the addition process. The child counts out the quantity of ducks/bunnies in the third dish and notates the answer.

Art Activities promote creative and imaginative thinking.

Decorating Foam Bunnies

The children have had fun using a glue stick to decorate their foam bunny with cotton, markers, sequins and other materials.

Paper Plate Bunnies

I provided each child with a paper plate and two rabbit ears. Each student draws or cuts out the eyes, and then draws or add the whiskers, nose, mouth and anything else they want to add (you may wish to include pipe cleaners, buttons, etc. to the material for this activity). Many children enjoyed creating their own bunny mask, and we certainly are enjoying our Montessori classroom full of rabbits!

Paper Cup Chicks and Bunny

On the Montessori classroom art shelf is a tray that houses the supplies for creating either a paper cup chick or a paper cup bunny: beaks, googly eyes, feathers, ears, pipe cleaners and pompom noses. The children glue on each of the items of their choosing and create an adorable Easter/springtime keepsake!

This year long series looks at the experiences of teachers, parents, students, and Montessori education itself, as we follow a student through his first year at a Montessori Preschool. Montessori Insights and Reflections of a Preschool Child’s First Year is a collection of useful stories, tips, and information that have arisen from one real student's Montessori journey.

Bree — NAMC Tutor & Graduate

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 Friday, April 15, 2011.