Montessori Mondays: Matching Activity

I wanted to share with you a favorite activity (work) of my students and mine this past year. It is a matching activity, where you match objects to pictures. It is so simple to make as well. The supplies you will need are as follows:

laminator
white paper or white card stock
wood animal cutouts (I got these from my local Michael's Craft store). 
glue stick

First make a color copy of the animal cutouts. I used my canon printer and the copies came out pretty good. I just outlined some of the black ink that was not showing too much. Next you cut the color animal pictures in the shape of a card. (They should all be the same size). Once you are done, you can paste the picture to a card stock paper and then you laminate it. 

The end result is this:

          

You can put the work on a shelf and invite the child to take the activity to a table or put it on a mat on the floor. The child will then try to match the animal to its card. 

          

An extension to this activity would be to trace the outline to four of the animals. Place two animals in each row and trace an outline around them. Laminate it and when the child uses the activity, they will match the animal to its outline. 

           

Both of these activities help the child develop concentration, visual discrimination and order. You can use other animals of your choice. I used this activity with children between the ages of 18 months - 2 years old.