List of Montessori Sensorial Materials for Ages 2.5 to 6.5 Years Old

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If you are familiar with the Montessori philosophy and the materials that are used in the classroom, then this list of sensorial materials will be "old hat." However, if you are new to Montessori and are wanting to incorporate Montessori materials into your homeschool environment, this list will be helpful. This list of Montessori Sensorial Materials is for ages 2.5 to 6.5 years old. Also, with "extension" exercises added these materials can possibly be enjoyed up to 7 or 8 years of age.

Montessori Sensorial Materials

What are Montessori sensorial materials?

These materials were brilliantly designed by Dr. Maria Montessori in the late 1800's to help a child absorb abstract information, sharpen their senses, and classify their environment all while using these concrete hands-on manipulatives. Each material has a "control of error" to allow the child to self-correct while working with the material. This encourages the child to process the information for themselves and find the answer to the problem. The beauty of Montessori materials is that they teach a child to think for themselves using a systematic approach.

These materials help a child embrace and fine-tune their senses. The materials cover the five senses as well as the thermic (temperature), baric (weight estimation), kinaesthetic (muscle memory), and stereognostic (muscular and tactile) senses.

The Five Senses Include:

Visual (Seeing)
Acoustic (Hearing)
Tactile (Touching)
Olfactory (Smelling)
Gastatory (Tasting)

FYI: The sensorial materials can be more of a challenge and heighten a child's senses by closing their eyes or being blindfolded, as well as adding "extension" exercises.

Our Favorite Materials for the Five Senses

List of Montessori Sensorial Materials

This is the Table of Contents for the order of presentation of the sensorial materials from the Primary Montessori Sensorial Teaching Manual from the Montessori Print Shop. (You can purchase the manual by clicking the link above.) The manual includes step-by-step instructions for each sensorial material listed below. (*Please note that the list below is only a guideline for possible order of introduction of materials. It's important to "follow the child" and what interests the child as well as moving at the pace of the child - not too fast and not too slow. You want the child to be engaging with the work. If the work is too challenging, then take a step back and re-evaluate. Repetition with a less challenging work is perfectly acceptable until the child is developmentally ready to move on.)

Another wonderful online resource for step-by-step instructions is infomontessori.com.

If the list below looks overwhelming for the homeschool environment, please note that you do not have to purchase all of these materials for the home environment. My suggestion would be to pick and choose two materials from each section. Please also note that you can DIY many of the materials to help keep the expense down. Another option is to buy the materials second-hand or if you buy them new, you can always resell them for 60-80% of their original cost. Montessori materials are made well and hold their value.