Whether you're a fan of KonMari, minimalism, or just having a clean and tidy environment, I have resources for you today! I'm sharing both cleaning and tidying activities and free cleaning and tidying printables, including my new Montessori-inspired cleaning and tidying pack (subscriber freebie at LivingMontessoriNow.com)!
You'll find many activities for preschoolers through first graders throughout the year along with presentation ideas in my previous posts at PreK + K Sharing. You'll also find ideas for using free printables to create activity trays here: How to Use Printables to Create Montessori-Inspired Activities.
At Living Montessori Now, I have a post with resource links of Free Printables for Montessori Homeschools and Preschools.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links (at no cost to you).
Montessori Shelves with Cleaning and Tidying Themed Activities
You’ll find Montessori-inspired cleaning and tidying numbers, letters, and and more (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber)
I always have related books available throughout a unit. On my top shelf, I have Grace and Courtesy: A Picture Guide for Children and Adults open to the page that says, "I put my work away and make it beautiful for the next person." On the right side of the shelf, I have This Is How We Do It (a wonderful book about children from around the world) open to the 2-page spread on "This is how I help" (book on a wooden cookbook holder). I've added the Montessori continents globe to go with the book on the right.
On the middle shelf, I have Dust Everywhere, and on the bottom shelf, I have Henry Helps With Laundry. (The author, Beth Bracken, has written a number of Henry Helps books.) These books are all Montessori friendly.
I have a book basket beside the shelf with Montessori-friendly non-fiction books and some fun fiction books that aren't Montessori-style books.
You could mix your cleaning and tidying themed activities among your shelves according to curriculum area. Or you could have a special cleaning and tidying-themed area something like the one pictured. My shelves this month have a mixture of skill levels. Many of the activities can be adapted for a variety of levels.
If you’re a homeschooler, just choose the activities that work for your child’s interests and ability levels. If you don’t have room for all the activities you’d like to do, simply rotate them.
English and Spanish Chore Cards
Free Printables: English and Spanish Chore Cards from Spanish Mama
These are really versatile. There are also activity cards included, but I just used the cleaning chore cards in both English and Spanish. I'd have the child match them to learn the Spanish words. The child could also choose a chore to do for the day.
B is for Broom and D is for Dustpan Sand Writing Tray
Free Printables: Broom letters for letter b writing tray and dustpan letters for letter d writing tray (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber)
For the tray, I used the wooden tray from the Melissa & Doug Lace and Trace Shapes. You can use whatever tray or container work best for you, though. This is made extra fun by using the miniature broom from the Montessori Services language objects to write the letters in the sand.
If you would like help with introducing phonetic sounds, introducing objects with sounds, or beginning phonics in general, check out my DIY Beginning Montessori Phonics with Preschoolers.
ER Phonogram Cards and OO Phonogram Cards
These are the materials you can see on the right side of my middle shelf. I’ll add the “oo" broom phonogram work to the shelf in a week or so. We've had activities with these phonograms before, so I didn't use the booklets from MontessoriSoul. Check my previous posts to see how I use the booklets.
Montessori-Style Sweeping Paper Scraps Number or Addition Game
Free Printable: Dustpan and Brush Numbers 1-19 (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriberFree Printable: 1-10 Spinner (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber)
I used the dustpan and brush from our Melissa & Doug Housekeeping Set, the printables, and 19 red scraps of paper crumpled up. I placed everything on a Multicraft Tray.
Young preschoolers could just spin the spinner, count out the correct number of scraps from 1-10 and drop them on the tray to sweep up.
My 5-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, loved this game and asked to do it a number of times. Zoey's already learning her addition facts, so we used it to reinforce those.
Zoey would spin the spinner, drop that number of scraps on the tray, spin again to find the next number for the equation, and sweep all scraps into the rectangle made with electrical tape.
Then she would sweep the scraps into the dustpan before pouring them from the dustpan into the small bowl.
I loved watching the way Zoey put everything away each time before starting the next equation!
Henry Helps with Laundry Book with KonMari-style Pants and Jeans Folding Activity
Free Printable: How to Fold Clothes Like Marie Kondo from ModernCastle
This was a fun activity to put together! I simply used my printer set at "Fit to Page" to make the printable larger. Than I used only the pants and jeans part of the printable, since pants are one of the easier items to fold using the KonMari Method. I used children's leggings and jeans to fit in a basket I had.
Free Cleaning and Tidying Printables
Montessori-Inspired Cleaning and Tidying Pack for DIY Cards and Counters, Number or Letter Matching, Number or Letter Basket, Bead Bar Work, Hands-on Math Operations, Number or Letter Salt/Sand Writing Tray, Letter Tracing, DIY Movable Alphabet, and Creative Writing (subscriber freebie, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password – or check your inbox if you’re already a subscriber)
For more free printables for this unit, go to my post at Living Montessori Now with free cleaning and tidying printables.
More Cleaning and Tidying Resources
- How Montessori and Fly Lady Help Me Keep My House Clean
- Montessori Practical Life Cleaning Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers
- Fun with Cleaning, Movement, and Music Appreciation
- My Family's Favorite Clean Up Song
- Free Clean Up Songs (Tidy Up Songs) and Rhymes
If you'd like to focus on manners with children, please check out my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to Teach Grace and Courtesy! It's written for anyone who'd like to feel comfortable teaching manners to children ages 2-12.
Happy cleaning and tidying!
Deb Chitwood is a certified Montessori teacher with a master’s degree in Early Childhood Studies from Sheffield Hallam University in Sheffield, England. Deb taught in Montessori schools in Iowa and Arizona before becoming owner/director/teacher of her own Montessori school in South Dakota. Later, she homeschooled her two children through high school. Deb is now a Montessori writer who lives in San Diego with her husband of 43 years (and lives in the city where her kids, kids-in-law, and grandkids live). She blogs at Living Montessori Now.
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