Continent Studies - Africa Part 1

AFRICA ACTIVITIES 1ST INSTALLMENT

It has been all hands on deck these past two weeks since we have had our school suspended for COVID-19.  Since that time I have been working with many other Montessorians across the globe to get things into the hands of educators and parents.  I have been wanting to get back to blogging with regularity for some time now but have had other very pressing and difficult circumstances in my family's life to take care of first.  I am so glad things had gotten to a good place before all this happened.  I am also so grateful I have this platform already in place to make an impact for my own students as well as for so many others.  I wish to thank my readers for the outpouring of love and kindness at this time and in the past.  I want to be one of the helpers.  Thank you also for being one of the helpers.

We are gearing up for our Africa studies in Sequoias Class and I've been knee deep in creating new materials that are friendly to not only the classroom but for home as well.  In this post I will endeavor to share what I have made and a few other things I absolutely love.

Continent Globe

Continent Puzzle Map

Setting the Stage

Whenever we are introducing a new continent for study I will always take the Continent Globe and Continent Puzzle Map together during a Line Time.  We will sing the Continent Song together while pointing to the continents on the Continent Globe first and then again using the Continent Puzzle Map.  The WHY behind doing this is simply - the younger the child the more often they need to see that these things mean the same thing.  With the continued one-to-one correspondence practice more children will pick it up.

Every time we begin a new continent of study the children in our class renew their interest in coloring, cutting and pasting, and painting the continents.  

More advanced Early Childhood students will appreciate making their own Continent Globe.  This is also very beneficial for adults to create when a Continent Globe is not available.  If the child is really interested you can have them do the coloring with a little support.  The cuts make it difficult for Early Childhood students to know what color belongs where but it is such fun work.  I take whatever color they should be using and make a small mark in the spot to color.  This way they can be as independent as possible with the least amount of interference from adults.  Once colored they will need plenty of support in taping it together so it forms a globe.  

Continent Flat Map Work

The Colored Globe Cut Out

The assembled Globe

This following Coloring sheet is so helpful for this.  Whenever there is work that has a specific way to be done you should create a Control of Error.  That is one which is colored in the correct colors as an EXAMPLE. I always write EXAMPLE on the paper or else it may grow legs and go home with some little one.  Even then it may happen, but much less often. 

Continents of the World Coloring Sheet

This can also be used when a Continent Puzzle is not available.  You can print off two sets, color one set in the continent colors and the other with the blue ocean.  Then you can cut out the 

continent set and use them in place of the Continent Puzzle Map.

Assembling the Continent World Coloring Sheet to be used in place of a Puzzle Map

Continents Coloring Sheet Assembled as replacement for Puzzle Map

Introduction to Africa

Once we sing the Continent Song I will point to Africa and ask which continent this is.  Once that has been answered I will tell the children we will now begin our study of Africa.  There are two very good ways to introduce a continent.  The first is with ARTIFACTS and the second is through PICTURES.

ARTIFACTS

In Montessori Classrooms we sequence our work from most concrete to most abstract.  Artifacts are the most concrete representation of a continent.  I find artifacts from friends who have visited and brought things back for me, by visiting my local second hand shops, and sometimes online.  I try to get as many things second hand as possible.  Carvings, textiles, jewelry, money, art etc. all make great artifacts for students to explore.

Add in photo of artifacts

PHOTOS

Line Time Photos of a continent are large enough for everyone at the circle to see.  We want to give an overview of the continent in a short enough time to keep the interest of the entire group while whetting their interest for more.  That is easy to do with all the continents, but Africa is fabulous!

Introduction to Africa Line Time Cards

Once I have introduced our Continent it is time to give small group lessons for these very cool works.

AFRICA PLAY DOUGH MAP

This work is so lovely for the youngest students to use and they love it.  All works on a Montessori shelf should have an indirect purpose.  This work with play dough and the fitting into the small spaces of the map develop both the gross and fine motor control of the child.

Africa Play Dough Map

AFRICA TEAR MAP

This work helps the child with the fine motor control as they tear green paper strips into pieces small enough to be glued onto the paper.  The older the child the better they will be with the fineness of their tears.  It is a great thing to challenge your older and more advanced students to stay as much in the lines as possible.  This also develops hand-eye coordination.  I have included a page of green in case there is not access to a green sheet of paper.  It works best to cut the papers the child will use into a 1/4th of a sheet or even into strips 2 inches wide.

Africa Tear Map

AFRICAN MASKS ART

When presenting this work I will show a small group of children the African Mask cards and then invite them to color, watercolor, paint, or use oil pastels to create a beautiful mask with the African Masks Coloring/Painting Pages. They are meant to be cut in half.  We keep a smattering of the masks on a tray for the children to choose from.

African Masks

African Masks Coloring/Art Pages

AFRICAN TEXTILES CARDS

Something the children seem to enjoy a lot is the bold patterns of many African textiles.  These cards could to be printed twice to make a matching set.

African Textile Cards

  They could also be traced to make clothing like you see here using the Clothing Cut Out Patterns

Clothing Cut Out Patterns

ANIMALS OF THE SAVANNAH DIORAMA
This new work has been fun to create.  It is best suited for more advanced students to do independently.  Younger students will love doing this with a little support.  Follow their needs and help only as much as they need.

African Savannah Diorama Animals

African Savannah Animals Diorama Completed

Keep a look out for Installment 2 of Africa Activities!

Stay Safe!  Stay Healthy!

Loves,

Cath

Plant and Animal Cutting and Pasting Sheet

This is another cutting and pasting work that I just found in my files that I hadn't uploaded yet.  This work goes with the Plant and Animal presentation from this post.  The child cuts, sorts, and then pastes to a new sheet to complete this work.  There are two kinds of labels for you to choose which font you want to use.

Plant/Animal Cutting and Pasting Sheet
click on picture to link to file

Living Nonliving Cut and Paste Work

I have been looking around my files to see what else I have forgotten to put online.  I have found a few things.  This sheet is a companion work to the Living/Nonliving cards used in this post.  The children can cut them out, sort them, and paste them to another sheet to complete this work.

Living/Nonliving Cut and Paste Sheet
click on picture to link to file

Broad Stair Pasting Activity

This pasting activity is the same size as the Broad Stair.  This free download has one of each size of rectangle and can either be cut out by the child or the teacher.

I suggest beginning this work after the child can successfully build the stair and can do several extensions.

As in the Pink Tower Pasting Activity, I suggest a dry placement first to create what they would like first.  Then the child can use a glue stick to paste them to an extra large sheet of white paper.  I like to use white butcher paper.

Broad Stair Pasting Activity
click on picture to link to file

 

Pink Tower Pasting Activity

This pasting activity is the same size as the Pink Tower.  The first file has ten of each size of square from 1cm to 10 cm and is for teachers to cut out for children.  The second file has one of each size of square and is for children to cut out their own work.

I suggest beginning this work after the child can successfully create the tower and several extensions.

I suggest that they do a dry placement to get the squares where they would like them first, and then use glue sticks to paste them to an extra large sheet of white paper.  I like to use white butcher paper.  Children love something to take home to share with their families.  When I present this activity I will say that they may choose to keep this at the school for display, or they could choose to take it home.  They frequently may choose to display it at school for a day and then at the end of the day they are excited to take it home.

Pink Tower Pasting Activity
click on picture to link to file

Pink Tower Pasting Activity - Student
click on picture link to file

 

Butterfly Life Cycle Pasting and Drawing Activity

Here is a little pasting and drawing activity for the butterfly life cycle.

This file has two activities in one.  The first has the pictures for the child to paste over and the second has only words as a guide.  The child can use the second page as a drawing sheet to draw their own life cycle after completing the pasting activity.  The child may choose to do both activities on the same day, on different days, or may only be interested in the pasting activity.

Butterfly Life Cycle Pasting & Drawing Activity
click on picture to link to file

 Instructions for use:

• adult prepares third page by cutting into strips and placing in basket for cutting
• child cuts the pasting strips apart
• child pastes the photos of the butterfly life cycle over the black and white images on the first page
• child can now use the first sheet as a reference to draw their own pictures of the butterfly life cycle on the second sheet
• The last page can be used by the child as a reference for drawing

Number Rod Pasting Activity

This activity is the exact size of the table top number rods.  This is a great transition exercise between the large number rods and the table top number rods.  The child should set up the number rods and the cards for reference as they do this work.  You may find it helpful to also set up the table top number rods along side with the larger version.

Even if you only own one of the number rod sets, this is a valuable and enjoyable exercise.  I have had children who really enjoyed doing this work multiple times.  Sometimes what they are really working on is cutting control since the control of error while cutting out the blue and red of the rods is so great.

Number Rod Pasting Activity
click on picture to link to the file