Spring season is full of wonder, growth, and sunshine—making it the perfect time to do hands-on nature activities with young children. While the park is a great physical activity, it’s equally important to nurture your child’s curiosity and cognitive development at home.
Weekends and after-school hours can be the golden opportunity to slow down and engage in intentional play! With a Montessori-inspired approach, the magic of spring can be found indoors. Below are two engaging spring activities for toddlers (18 months to 36 months) and preschoolers (2 to 6 years) with materials you likely already have at home! We’re lucky because throughout the Bay Area – from Fremont to Pleasant Hill, Sunnyvale to Milpitas, Dublin to Palo Alto – we are bless with many fun, (and educational) opportunities for kids and parents.
Spring Activities for Toddlers
- Color Matching Egg Hunt
Put a spring twist on a classic Montessori color-matching activity.
- What you’ll need: Colorful plastic Easter eggs and matching containers.
- How to do it: Hide the eggs around your home or yard. Once collected, help your toddler match each egg to its corresponding color container.
- Why it’s great: This boosts color recognition and gross motor development through active play.
- Leaf Transfer with Tongs
This simple fine motor activity adds a springtime sensory element.
- What you’ll need: Real leaves, toddler-safe tongs, and two bowls.
- How to do it: Demonstrate how to use the tongs to transfer leaves from one bowl to the other.
- Why it’s great: It strengthens hand muscles, builds coordination, and introduces delicate care of natural materials.
Spring Activities for Preschoolers
- Flower Arranging Station
Introduce your preschooler to the art of flower arranging—a classic Montessori practical life activity.
- What you’ll need: Child-safe scissors, a small pitcher of water, fresh flowers, and small vases or jars.
- How to do it: Set up a tray with the materials. Demonstrate how to trim flower stems, pour water into the vase, and create a simple arrangement.
- Why it’s great: This activity builds concentration, coordination, and fine motor skills. It also introduces concepts of beauty and care for the environment.
- Nature Sorting Tray
Bring the outdoors in with a nature collection and sorting activity.
- What you’ll need: A tray, small bowls or muffin tins, and collected nature items (twigs, leaves, pinecones, small rocks, flowers).
- How to do it: Invite your child to sort the objects by category, size, texture, or color. Add labels for extra language enrichment.
- Why it’s great: This encourages observation skills, classification, and vocabulary development—all key Montessori principles.
With a few household items, you can turn your home into a Montessori classroom! Motor skills, color recognition, observation, and a love for the environment are critical lessons LAPMS includes within our academic curriculum. Practicing these skills at home means enriching and mastering them faster. From our Hercules campus to our Sunnyvale location, we work daily with your child to set up a foundation for a lifetime of learning and success in our modern society.
