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Homeschool Montessori

Montessori activities for age 4

By Owen WrenLast updated

Four-year-olds often begin building words with the moveable alphabet and meet the decimal system through the golden beads.

Start with Grace and Courtesy Lessons, the work on this list with the youngest starting age.

Illustration: a low Montessori shelf of pale wood in a quiet room, with six practical life and sensorial works each set out on its own tray.
IllustrationA low shelf set for the morning, one work to a tray.

On the shelf at this age

49 lessons whose typical age overlaps age 4

Lessons for Age 4, grouped by area
Lesson and materialsTypical age
Practical Life
Grace and Courtesy Lessons
2 to 6 years
Button Dressing FrameButton Dressing Frame
2.5 to 4.5 years
Sweeping with a Brush and DustpanChild-Sized Sweeping Set
2.5 to 5 years
Folding ClothsFolding Cloths
2.5 to 5 years
Banana Slicing (First Food Preparation)Child's Food Preparation Tools
2.5 to 5 years
Table ScrubbingTable Scrubbing Set
3 to 5.5 years
Flower ArrangingFlower Arranging Set
3 to 5.5 years
Metal PolishingMetal Polishing Set
3.5 to 6 years
Sensorial
Brown Stair (Broad Stair)Brown Stair, Work Rug
Illustration: the Montessori brown stair, ten brown wooden prisms laid side by side from thickest to thinnest on a linen mat.
Illustration
2.5 to 4.5 years
Touch Boards (Rough and Smooth Boards)Touch Boards
2.5 to 4.5 years
Red Rods (Long Rods)Red Rods, Work Rug
Illustration: the Montessori red rods, ten red wooden rods laid out from shortest to longest on a linen mat.
Illustration
3 to 5 years
Color Tablets: Boxes 1, 2 and 3Color Tablets
Illustration: the Montessori color tablets, rows of small wooden tablets with colored centers in a wooden box.
Illustration
3 to 5 years
Sound Cylinders (Sound Boxes)Sound Cylinders
3 to 5 years
Geometric Cabinet (Plane Geometric Insets)Geometric Cabinet
3 to 5 years
Mystery Bag (Stereognostic Bag)Mystery Bag (Stereognostic Bag)
3 to 5.5 years
Binomial CubeBinomial Cube
3.5 to 6 years
Geometric SolidsGeometric Solids
3.5 to 6 years
Trinomial CubeTrinomial Cube
4 to 6 years
Math
Number RodsNumber Rods, Work Rug
Illustration: the Montessori number rods, ten wooden rods in alternating red and blue segments, laid out from shortest to longest on a linen mat.
Illustration
3.5 to 5 years
Sandpaper NumeralsSandpaper Numerals
3.5 to 5 years
Golden Beads: Introduction to the Decimal SystemGolden Bead Material, Work Rug
Illustration: the Montessori golden beads (golden bead material) on a wooden tray: loose unit beads, ten bars, hundred squares and thousand cubes.
Illustration
4 to 5.5 years
Spindle Boxes: Counting 0 to 9Spindle Boxes
Illustration: the Montessori spindle box, a long wooden box of ten compartments, with a basket of wooden spindles beside it.
Illustration
4 to 5.5 years
Teen Boards (Seguin Board A)Teen Boards, Golden Bead Material
4 to 6 years
Cards and Counters: Odd and EvenCards and Counters
4 to 5.5 years
Stamp Game: Static AdditionStamp Game
Illustration: the Montessori stamp game, small green, blue and red wooden tiles sorted into the compartments of a wooden box.
Illustration
4.5 to 7.5 years
Short Bead Chains (Squaring Chains)Bead Chains (Short Chains and the Hundred Chain)
Illustration: Montessori bead chains in green, blue, red and gold coiled on a wooden tray.
Illustration
4.5 to 6.5 years
Tens Boards (Seguin Board B)Tens Boards, Golden Bead Material
4.5 to 6.5 years
Fraction Insets (Fraction Circles)Fraction Insets (Fraction Circles)
4.5 to 7 years
Language
Sandpaper LettersSandpaper Letters
Illustration: the Montessori sandpaper letters, rough letters on wooden boards standing in a box, consonants on pink boards and vowels on blue boards.
Illustration
2.5 to 5 years
Sound Games (I Spy)
2.5 to 4.5 years
Moveable Alphabet: Building First WordsMoveable Alphabet, Pink Series Object Box
Illustration: the Montessori movable alphabet (moveable alphabet), wooden letter tiles sorted into a divided wooden box, consonants in one color and vowels in another.
Illustration
3.5 to 6 years
Metal InsetsMetal Insets
Illustration: the Montessori metal insets, pink frames holding blue insets, standing in a wooden rack.
Illustration
3.5 to 6 years
Pink Series: Object Box ReadingPink Series Object Box
4 to 6 years
Three-Part Cards: Land and Water FormsThree-Part Cards (Land and Water Forms), Land and Water Form Trays
Illustration: Montessori three-part cards for a leaf on a wooden tray: a picture card, a label card and a control card.
Illustration
4 to 6.5 years
Blue Series: Words with Consonant BlendsBlue Series (Blend Words)
4.5 to 7 years
Grammar Symbols: The Noun and the VerbGrammar Symbols
Illustration: Montessori grammar symbols cut from paper on a linen mat: a large black triangle, a red circle and two blue triangles.
Illustration
4.5 to 7 years
Puzzle Words (Sight Words)Puzzle Word Cards
4.5 to 7 years
Cultural
Sandpaper Globe: Land and WaterSandpaper Globe
2.5 to 4.5 years
Caring for PlantsPlant Care Set
2.5 to 5.5 years
World Puzzle Map: ContinentsWorld Puzzle Map
3 to 5.5 years
Land and Water FormsLand and Water Form Trays, Small Pouring Pitchers
3 to 5.5 years
Continent Globe (Painted Globe)Continent Globe (Painted Globe)
3 to 5 years
Sink and Float
3 to 5.5 years
Living and Nonliving: A First SortLiving and Nonliving Sorting Cards
3.5 to 6 years
Botany Cabinet: Leaf ShapesBotany Cabinet
3.5 to 6 years
Flags of the WorldFlag Stands (Flags of the World)
3.5 to 6 years
Parts of a Plant (Botany Puzzles)Botany Puzzles
3.5 to 6 years
Zoology Puzzles (Parts of an Animal)Zoology Puzzles
3.5 to 6 years
The Sun and the Planets (Solar System)Solar System Puzzle and Cards
4 to 6 years

When most of this shelf feels easy for your child, look one step ahead: age 5 lists what usually comes next.