Oh, sure. Montessori work is great for things like developing hand-eye coordination, teaching autonomy, encouraging responsibility. But you know what else it’s good for? Distracting hungry kids. Pure and simple.

It was that time of the day. You know the one. I’m trying to get dinner ready in the kitchen. Dinner prep is taking twice as long as it should (or maybe could?) because Monkey wants me to hold him and show him and feed him. It’s an hour before bedtime, so the crazy pre-bed restless behaviors are beginning. And if I can’t get the kids doing something other than clinging to my legs, things are only going to go downhill. So, what did I do? Pulled out some Montessori work, of course!

Pearl doing transfer work with smooth stones and tongs.

Monkey doing the same work with a spoon.

And, as I told my husband that evening, I take the messiness of the room as a sign that they were busy kids. They got it all cleaned up before bedtime.

What I loved about this work time:

  • Watching them take turns. First, Pearl watched Monkey do his spoon work and then he watched her with the tongs. They went through several cycles of this.
  • It kept them busy! And happily, too. I think they enjoyed having a specific task to execute.
  • Instead of just saying, “Go play with something” like I sometimes do, I felt like I was giving them actual work that would bring them satisfaction and also improve their coordination skills.
  • Watching them clean up when they were done. Something about the activity being on a tray must trigger something in their brains because when they were finished with the work, they quickly put the stones back in their container and the tray and supplies up on the kitchen counter. Now to figure out how to cue this reflex with their other toys…

All in all, it was a success and something I plan to try more often. So, next time you just need a couple minutes to get something done, try pulling out a tray and some interesting work for your kids. You might just be surprised.

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