Practical Life

A child pouring water from creamer to creamer

Practical life materials give young children the opportunity to practice real life tasks by imitating experiences they see in their environment. Accessible real life functional materials are used in the classroom to offer purposeful work. After observing their teachers present an activity, the children are intrinsically motivated to work on those steps. Their strong desire for repetition helps them to develop and improve refinement of the hand, wrist and arm, independence, concentration, hand eye co-ordination, order of sequence, and fine motor skills.

With the guidance of a teacher, the materials, and experience with the tasks, the child develops the gift of learning and a love for learning. Practical life activities are an invitation to build a skill set that will help children excel in their future development.

A child superimposing shapes on an image A child inserting a key into a padlock A child working with a bolt and nut A child pricking a shape A child working with a hook and eye dressing frame A child stringing beads A child washing and brushing a rock A child pouring water from creamer to creamer A child cutting on a circular line A child spooning objects from bowl to bowl