Land and Water Forms
Land and water forms are shallow trays in matching pairs, such as island and lake or peninsula and gulf, that a child fills with blue water to see each form. Each pair is a pair of opposites: an island is land with water all round, a lake is water with land all round. They follow the sandpaper globe, from about 3.
Sourced from the texts, not yet presented at home
| Typical age | 3 to 5.5 years |
|---|---|
| Area | Cultural |
| Before this | |
| Materials | |
| Direct aim | To learn the names of land and water forms and recognize each as a pair of opposites. |
| Control of error | The water itself shows the form. You can see what it surrounds and what surrounds it. |
| Leads to | |
| Time | About 10 minutes for one pair (our estimate), drying up included. |
| Grouping | One child |
| Parent prep | Medium. Tint a pitcher of water blue and lay a towel under the trays, with a sponge beside them. |
| Cost | Buy about $37 to $144. Make: easy to make at home. |
| Other names | Land and water form trays, Geography forms, Land forms |
What the work teaches
Direct aim. To learn the names of land and water forms and recognize each as a pair of opposites.
Indirect aims, the ones you will not see at once
- Vocabulary for geography
- Seeing that each land form has a matching water form
- Careful pouring with a purpose
- Words for places the child can later find on a globe and a map
Set it out before you invite the child
Trays in pairs, with the land raised and painted brown or green and the water area left low. Sets usually hold three or four pairs; island and lake always come first.
A small pitcher of water tinted with a drop of blue food coloring.
A towel under the trays, plus a sponge and a dry cloth.
The trays are not in Montessori's books from 1912 to 1917. Her 1900 lectures, reprinted in 1917, had children build a lake, an island, a peninsula and a river out of doors, and model land in clay. The trays bring that to a table.
Presentation, step by step
- 1Carry the island and lake trays to the table with a small pitcher of water tinted blue.
- 2Pour water carefully into the island tray until the water surrounds the land. "This is an island. It is land with water all around it."
- 3Pour water into the lake tray. "This is a lake. It is water with land all around it."
- 4Run your finger around each one to show what surrounds what.
- 5Three-period lesson with island and lake.
- 6Pour the water back into the pitcher and dry the trays with a cloth.
Details that hold the child's attention
Water rising until it closes around the island.
Pouring just enough and no more.
A finger traced all the way round a shore.
Setting the two trays side by side and seeing one as the other turned inside out.
How the child sees a mistake
The water itself shows the form. You can see what it surrounds and what surrounds it.
The words come after the hands
| Words | Shown with |
|---|---|
| island, lake | Land with water all around; water with land all around. |
| peninsula, gulf | Land almost surrounded by water; water almost surrounded by land. |
| isthmus, strait | A narrow strip of land joining two larger lands; a narrow strip of water joining two larger waters. |
| cape, bay | Land pointing out into water; water reaching into land. |
| land, water | The two words from the sandpaper globe, used here in every definition. |
The three-period lesson, scripted
You need the island tray and the lake tray, both filled.
| Period | What you do and say |
|---|---|
| 1. Naming | Point to the island: "This is an island." To the lake: "This is a lake." Two or three times each. |
| 2. Recognition | "Show me the lake." "Put your finger on the island." Switch the trays' places and ask again. |
| 3. Recall | Point to one and ask "What is this?" |
Our suggestion: one pair per lesson, the next pair on another day. Peninsula and gulf come second; isthmus and strait, the hardest words, come last.
Extensions and variations
- The other pairs, one per lesson: peninsula with gulf, then isthmus with strait, then cape with bay
- Matching three-part cards for each form
- Building forms from clay in a baking tray and adding water
- Building them outdoors in sand or soil with a watering can, as in the 1900 lectures
- Finding a real island and lake on the globe or a map
Variations
- Clay or play-dough forms in a rimmed tray when ready-made trays are not available
Make it or buy it
| Material | Make it | Buy, approx. |
|---|---|---|
| Land and Water Form Trays | Easy | $37 to $144 |
| Small Pouring Pitchers | Easy | $8 to $34 |
Prices noted . Approximate US street prices for home-use versions; they vary by maker and change often, so recheck before buying.
Making it at home
Air-dry clay or plasticine shaped in a shallow, waterproof tray makes a good home version. Paint the land brown or green and use blue-tinted water.
What to check when buying a set
Ready-made trays usually come in sets of three or four pairs. Plastic trays are lighter and easier to clean than painted wood.
Printables for this lesson
- Three-part cards for each pair of formsPDF, 4 pages, 207 KBCards for all four pairs in the lesson, from island and lake to cape and bay, one pair to a page. Land is brown and water is blue, as on the trays.
- Shelf plan for age 3PDF, 1 page, 250 KBEvery work for this age on one page, in order, with a column to date each presentation.
Every printable for one age, by email
The shelf plan and the lesson printables for your child's age in one email, then three short emails on the first lesson, what to make or buy, and what comes next.
Signs the child is ready, and signs it is done
Ready for the first presentation
- Pours water from a small pitcher without spilling.
- Knows land and water from the sandpaper globe.
- Understands "all around": can walk all around a table, or draw a line all around a shape.
- Can carry a tray with water in it a short distance.
Ready for the next lesson
- Names both forms of a pair and says which is land and which is water.
- Pours each tray to the right level without overflowing.
- Matches three-part cards to the trays.
- Spots an island or a lake in a picture book.
Fitting it into a home, not a classroom
| If you have | Do this |
|---|---|
| No trays | Air-dry clay pressed into a baking dish. Shape an island in one dish and a lake in another, let them dry, then pour in the water. |
| A yard or a sandbox | Dig a lake, heap an island, pour from a watering can. Seguin taught these words by having children build them in a garden, and Montessori passed the method on to teachers. |
| Two children | One pours the island, the other the lake. Then they swap and name the other's tray. |
| A toddler in the house | Keep the water work for a table out of reach, and empty every tray before you leave it. |
When it does not go to plan
| When | Try this |
|---|---|
| The tray overflows. | Mark the fill line on the tray with a small dot, and show stopping there. |
| Water ends up everywhere. | Check that the child pours dry rice cleanly first; the dry-pouring lesson is the prerequisite for a reason. |
| Island and lake get swapped. | Say the definitions again with your finger: land with water all around, water with land all around. |
| It turns into water play. | Let some happen, then dry up together. Present the naming again on another day. |
Hazards to check before each session
Empty and dry every tray after the lesson. Standing water within a toddler's reach is a drowning risk.
Food coloring stains wood and fabric. A drop is plenty, and a towel under the trays catches drips.
Where other sequences and standards place it
We have not bought the paid homeschool curricula, so they are not listed here.
| Framework | Where it sits |
|---|---|
| This site's Cultural sequence | Lesson 4 of 12 published, after Sandpaper Globe: Land and Water and Dry Pouring Between Two Pitchers, before Three-Part Cards: Land and Water Forms. Checked in: the scope and sequence |
| Montessori, Pedagogical Anthropology (1913) | Seguin's method for teaching what a lake or an island is: build it in the garden from earth and water, trace its outline, then paint it. Checked in: The Method to Be Followed in These Lectures |
| Montessori, 1900 lectures (in The Montessori Elementary Material, 1917, Appendix II) | Geography as building games out of doors: make a lake, an island, a peninsula, a river. Clay models of land are outlined and then removed to leave a map. Checked in: Part VII, Geography |
| Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework, preschool | P-SCI 3: the child compares and categorizes observable phenomena. Indiana's early learning standards add SS 3.1, awareness of the world in spatial terms. Checked in: www.in.gov |
Land forms: questions parents ask
What are land and water forms in Montessori?
Shallow trays that model geography in pairs of opposites. Fill the island tray and you see land with water all around; fill the lake tray and you see water with land all around.
How many land and water forms are there?
Most sets have three or four pairs. Island with lake, peninsula with gulf and isthmus with strait are nearly always there; cape with bay is the usual fourth. Some add archipelago and a system of lakes. Bought sets run about $40 to $150.
How do I make land and water forms at home?
Press air-dry clay into shallow baking dishes, one form per dish, and let it dry. Seal the clay with clear varnish so it doesn't soften, then pour in blue-tinted water.
Is this Montessori's own idea?
The idea is older. Montessori credited Seguin with teaching geography by having children build a lake and an island in the garden, and her 1900 lectures did the same with a peninsula and a river. The trays came later.
Sources cited by book and chapter
- Maria Montessori, Pedagogical Anthropology (1913)
The Method to Be Followed in These Lectures
To teach what a lake or an island is, Seguin's method has the child build a miniature mountain with earth and a lake with water in the garden, trace their outline with chalk and paint them.
Repeating the same things, reproducing objects by the work of the hands and bringing the pupil into direct contact with the object is the true way to enable him to learn.
- Maria Montessori, The Montessori Elementary Material (1917)
Part VII, Geography
Geography in the 1900 lectures includes building games out of doors: make a lake, an island, a peninsula, a river.
Physical characteristics of regions may be shown by clay modeling; outlines are drawn around each model and the clay removed to read the resulting map.
Part VII, Appendix II
Appendix II summarizes Montessori's 1900 lectures at the Scuola Magistrale Ortofrenica in Rome, given along the lines laid down by Itard and Seguin.
Reviewed by
What to offer next
Once the child chooses this work unprompted and finishes it without help, the next lesson to prepare is Three-Part Cards: Land and Water Forms.
- Plant care2.5 to 5.5 years
- Puzzle map3 to 5.5 years
- Land forms3 to 5.5 years
- Continent globe3 to 5 years
- Sink and float3 to 5.5 years