Practical Life works- Spooning Small Shells

Spooning small shells

Materials:
· Small shells
· Small spoon
· Scalloped shaped container divided into 2 compartments
· Tray

Work surface:
Table

Presentations
· Invite child
· Select work and bring it to the table
· Place in front
· Using your dominant hand take the spoon
· Transfer the shells from left side of the container to right side of the container.
· Continue until all shells are done.
· Return shells to the left side of the container
· Check for any spilled shells
· Return work to shelf
· Invite child

Extensions/variations:
· Various spoons
· Various containers
· Various materials
· From one type of container to another type of container

Points of interest:
· Sound of shells as it is spooned
· The container
· Holding spoon
Control of error:
· Noise
· Spills
· Shells in container
· Nothing in spoon

Language:
Shells, spooning, empty

Age:
3 & up
Aims:
OCCI, Learning to spoon, preparation for writing

Practical Life works- Shell tweezing

Materials:

Tray, tweezers, a scalloped shaped closed container (has 2 compartments) containing money cowrie’s shells.

Work Surface:
Table

Presentation:
· Invite child/group.
· Select work from the shelf and place it on the table.
· Open the container
· Use your dominant hand and pick up the tweezers
· Examine tension and hand position by opening and closing.
· Hold the tweezers and pick up the shells
· . Begin to transfer the shells from the left side and into the right side.
· Continue until all the shells are transferred.
· Reverse the procedure and transfer from right to left.
· Admire the work and place it neatly on the shelf.
· Invite child/group.

Extensions/Variations:
· Different types of tongs
· Chop sticks
· Tweezers
· Melon baller
· Spoons
· Different container

Points of interest:
· Picking up shells
· Releasing the shells
· Different types of shells
· The container itself

Control of Error:
· Dropping shells on the other side
· Tweezers has right tension




Language:
Tweezers, squeeze, tight, release, transfer, left, right, objects

Age:
2 ½ & up

Aims:
OCCI. Learning to use tongs and tweezers.

Practical Example - Shell Polishing

Materials:
An abalone shell, baby oil in container, paintbrush, small piece of cloth, mat, sand paper tray

Work Surface:
Table

Presentation:
· Invite child
· Get work or go to the preset table
· Take the mat
· Take the shell and place it on the mat. Examine it
· Take the sand paper and sand the shell
· Squeeze a minimum of three drops of oil on the shell
· With your subdominant hand hold the shell
· Take the paintbrush in your dominant hand and start polishing it
· Take the piece of cloth and rub it in circles on the shell
· Observe old polish on cloth
· Admire
· Return all items to original places
· Invite child

Extensions/
Variations:
· Brass polishing
· Mirror polishing
· Silver polishing
· Car washing
· Wood polishing
· Shell washing

Points of Interest:
· Abalone shell
· Smell of the oil
· Use of paint brush
· Circular motion

Control of Error:
· Using the right size of paint brush
· Using the right amount of oil

Language:
Dull, Shiny, Shell, Baby Oil, Paintbrush, Etcetera

Age:
3+

Aims:
OCCI, Responsibility, learning to polish, care of environment, preparing for math

Practical Life works- One to One Correspondence

Materials:
· Knobbed Whelk Shells for each divided section in the ice cube
· Shell shaped ice cube tray
· Plastic tongs
· A container to hold the shells
· A tray

Work Surface:
Table

Presentations:

· Invite child/group
· Select work from the shelf and place it on the table
· Place the work in front of you on the table
· Invite the child to sit on your sub –dominant side.
· Use your dominant hand and pick up the tongs
· Examine tension and hand position by opening and closing.
· Open the tongs and pick up the shells
· Place object into one of the empty sections in the ice cube tray.
· Repeat this action until each section has one object and none of the sections is empty.
· Admire the work.
· Remove each object individually with pincer grasp and replace into the container.
· Invite child/group.
· Replace the work on the shelf.

Extensions/Variations:

· Different types of tongs
· Chop sticks
· Tweezers
· Meat baler
· Pincer grasp
· Different divided tray

Points of interest:
· Picking up shells
· Releasing the shells
· Placing them in the ice cube tray
· Each object has its own place

Control of Error:
· Dropping shells on the tray
· Tongs can be too loose or too tight
· Exact number of objects for number of spaces

Language:
Tongs, squeeze, tight, release, transfer, left, right, objects, Ice cube tray, shells

Age:
2 ½ & up

Aims:
OCCI. Learning to use tongs and tweezers, writing preparation.