Fabric Matching

This game idea came from How To Raise An Amazing Child the Montessori Way by Tim Seldin. It is ideal for helping to develop your child's sense of touch. It involves a basket filled with different kinds of fabric: wool, cotton, silk, terrycloth, corduroy, fleece and the like. Cut out two squares of each kind of fabric and place them in a basket. With your child's eyes closed ask your child to find the pairs of fabric squares that feel the same. When he thinks he's found the match, he can open his eyes and check his work. I started the activity by having the kids feel each of the fabrics and we talked about how they felt and tried to describe them. I got a lot of "This feels good." So, I tried to give Eli some new adjectives such as: soft, smooth, silky, cuddly, etc. (Sadie spent the whole time trying to use the small fleece square as a blanket.) To simplify the activity, I put only one of each type of fabrics in the bowl and gave him one that he had to find the match. He loved the idea, but it was a bit tricky for him.