#AtoZChallenge Color Tablets

I love the color tablets for so many reasons. Yes, they teach children how to match colors and how to name colors. But, they also teach children to appreciate the gradations of colors that exist in our world. Ask a child to name something green. Answers may include grass, leaves, peppers, broccoli, apples, etc. If you think about it, yes, those are all representations of the color green. Every one of them, though, is a different kind of green. That is something children realize with the color tablets.

Color Box 1 teaches just the primary colors. Two sets of tablets include red, yellow, and blue. 

Color Box 2 adds more colors for matching, including pink, orange, green, purple, gray, brown, black, and white.

The third color box starts to teach children how to grade colors, from white to black, and grays in the middle. Some people use one color, grading lightest to darkest.

I learned Color Box 4 as being one in which you grade a color from lightest to darkest, as well as matching those tints and shades with two sets.

Color Box 5 is the best of them all. It grades all of the colors from Color Box 2 from darkest to lightest. Many people have the rows of colors radiate from a circle in the middle. My kids always call it "The Sun." It does resemble the sun or other star.

You can do all kinds of extensions with these materials. Maria wrote about he children using the original color tablets, which were actually spools of silk. You had to hold the ends of them so delicately, as fingers could leave a smudge on the silk and distort the color. Children delicately carried them around the environment, comparing them to everything they could find. I haven't yet seen my children do that, but carrying wooden versions don't feel quite as special.

When I was in training, my Montessori best friend made an original project in which children had to mix paint colors to try to match the color tablets in a grading sequence. I have added to that idea by creating cards that show a certain number of dots in a given color in each rectangle. They measure the drops and then mix the colors to see what they get. 

Does this impact kids for life? Well, I was the kid who always had to have the 64 box of crayons. As a teacher, I get annoyed with the 8-packs of colored pencils, markers, and crayons. I end up spending my own money on packages with more colors. I feel like you can be more creative, as well as more accurately represent the world around you with more color choices. I also aced the color chart exercise in my beginning oil painting class from a decade ago. The purpose was to create a chart of grades of all colors, to use as reference when painting. I whipped mine out in less than two sessions, when most people were taking several weeks to complete theirs. I feel like I can observe minute color changes everywhere around me, and find more complementary color combinations. My artistic eye was more finely tuned by using these materials. At least, that's my opinion. :-)

A is for Art

Art is one of my favorite areas in the Montessori curriculum. I grew up in a home environment that was rich in art. I also attended Montessori school from preschool through the sixth grade, where art was a key part of so much of what we did. I love to share it with my kids.

How do you implement art into the Montessori classroom? Start with calendars and posters displayed around the classroom environment. Hang them at the children's eye level, so that they can more easily view them. Rotate them throughout the year instead of hanging them all at once. Be sure to include a variety of artists and styles in your collection. Let children experience them on their own.

Cut apart calendars. Mount and laminate the smaller pictures from the back of the calendar. Do the same for the larger calendar pages. Divide the cards up into groups of 5 or 6 so that it is manageable. Now you have a big-to-little matching activity.

Use the Child-Size Masterpieces series by Aline D. Wolf. Her matching and sorting sets teach children to recognize different works of art, as well as their genres and the artists. You can also use bingo games or make your own dominoes out of stickers.





Put out books for the children to independently look at. One of my favorite series for the children to use is the  Mini Masters series of board books. Each one features real paintings by famous artists, all accompanied by a fun rhyme.




The Touch the Art series of board books also includes famous works of art covering all genres. They add something to make the book more interactive. For example, in the picture of Van Gogh's bedroom, the child can "make" the bed by pulling over a piece of cloth. The Mona Lisa has actual hair that the child can comb. They learn to recognize the famous works as they read these again and again.



With the older children in Extended Day, I also like to read to them the Getting to Know the Artist series. Sometimes these are a little long, so I may have to pick and choose which information I share. Again, these include real pictures of the paintings. The children can also learn more about each artist.



And finally, you need a well-stocked shelf of art supplies. Remember, the whole point is process and not product. Children need to learn how to properly use the different material to make their own creations. Avoid doing crafts. These are product-driven, where everyone is expected to make the same thing. Even if you are trying to copy what someone else has done, you still need to be able to properly use the materials!
Let the kids get messy while also teaching them how to keep their materials contained. Cleaning up the mess falls into practical life. They need to help with the clean-up, so don't do it for them. It will be tempting!
Find ways to implement art into other areas of the classroom. Do a sketch of the growth of the seeds you planted. Draw your own maps of the school and classroom. Recreate the sensorial materials. The possiblities are endless.
For more information on how to set up an art area in a Montessori classroom, please read my article Essential Materials for the Montessori Art Area.