Maria Montessori (1870-1952) is credited with establishing the Montessori Method, which is recognized as a globally renowned educational approach.

By including this method of learning, it is no longer limited to academic subjects, but also takes into account aspects of daily life.

The focus of the root and foundation of this philosophy is on helping the individual be more independent. 

This post will give you an introduction to the Montessori curriculum approach to sensory education, as well as provide you with a PDF of a printable template you can use in your environments.

What is Montessori Sensorial all about?

Before starting, it is important to clarify what Sensorial is in Montessori, as well as its importance.

The concept of sensory originates from the word “sensory.”

It is derived from the word “senses.”

These are sensory stimulation activities that are carried out by the use of Sensorial materials.

Many materials developed by Dr. Montessori can stimulate a child’s various senses as they develop.

You are not aware of the fact that human beings have more senses than you realize.

When she categorizes the exercises, she sets them into nine different groups to have in Your Montessori classroom.

This is a collection of olfactory, visual, auditory, gustatory, muscular, tactile, baric, thermal, and stereo gnostic. 

Having the ability to hear, taste, smell, and see is essential for the development of a child.

This teenage group is acutely aware due to the fact that this age group experiences high levels of awareness earlier in life, approximately from age six on.

It is critical that we tap into this period of time and use it to its fullest potential, as sensory development is essential for life at this time.

The periods during a child’s life when he/she has an aptitude for a particular ability, and he/she has a keen interest in that ability, are the sensitive periods. In the long run, those interests and abilities disappear. 

Montessori helps refine the senses, resulting in a child who is more in tune with their surroundings.

The Sensorial works are made to accomplish specific objectives that every child is developing at their own pace.

There are many Montessori Sensorial materials that can serve multiple purposes.

Some have several functions, but all are instrumental to some key goal. It is not play and it is not intended to provide sensory stimulation just for the sake of provocation.

Some Sensorial Areas of Focus

1 Olfactory

The olfactory sense is the sense of smell.

There are several Practical Life activities that can pair up with Sensorial experiences, such as flower arrangements.

It is important for a child to learn to distinguish different smells (putrid, pleasant, charred, fragrant, bitter, etc). 

Some Montessori works that fall under the Sensorial olfactory category are:

Smelling Bottles

Smelling Trays

2 Visual

The organ that is used for this sensorial work is the eye.

It involves shapes and colors as well as visual discrimination to match things up by size or shape.

The sense of sight is precious and by using this sense, children learn to develop depth perception, sizing quantities and even chromatography of color. 

Some Montessori works that fall under the Sensorial visual (sight) category are:

Pink Tower

Brown Stair

Red Rods

Geometric Cabinet

3 Tactile

The tactile sense is the sense of touch.

Fingertips, lips and mouth are especially sensitive in children.

They use these sense in sensorial activities to explore their world quite a bit.

In Montessori, they do works that teach the child to distinguish between smooth to rough and everything in-between. 

Some Montessori materials that fall under the Sensorial tactile category are:

Intentional Finger Preparation

Cylinder Blocks

Touch Boards

Binomial Cube

Do you know how to do Montessori Sensorial?

You are going to need some guidance in this specific subject because there are nine categories!

You will also need a plan because you will want to make sure that you are keeping all categories balanced.

By that, I mean that you don’t want to focus mostly on the three categories I mentioned above and neglect or barely do the other six categories.

Where to get Montessori Sensorial Guidance

My “Montessori Curriculum Approach to Sensory Education” is the perfect resource that you will want to get and use for all your Montessori Sensorial lessons.

This set of checklist is going to take your Montessori Sensorial planning to the next level.

You will be amazed at how helpful these checklists are going to be for you.

This is because they will shortcut your planning time and you will prepare the lessons you know are right for the child.

As you go through this information, I want you to really think about how important the Montessori Sensorial subject is.

Please make sure to do what is best for shortcutting your planning time WITHOUT affecting the quality of the lessons.