DIY Coral Reef Water Table with Practical Life Activities {Montessori Monday}

No, a water table or sensory bin isn’t a traditional Montessori material. But it can be a great addition to a Montessori family or homeschool. It can also be perfect for most preschools or as part of an afterschool program in a Montessori school. Our latest activity using our DIY sensory table is a coral reef water table with a number of practical life activities. So much fun for summer as well as being great for fine-motor development, vocabulary, and concentration!

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DIY Coral Reef Water Table with Practical Life Activities – YouTube Video

Because I had the DIY sensory table, this was easy to prepare … and so much fun for Zoey!

DIY Coral Reef Water Table with Practical Life Activities

Zoey and I have LOVED our DIY sensory table! It was inexpensive to make, is sturdy (still looks like new after almost two years of regular use), and can be adapted for almost any theme!

Materials Used for DIY Coral Reef Water Table (or Sensory Bin) with Practical Life Activities

I already had all the materials needed for this in my kitchen or in my educational materials bins, so I didn’t need to buy anything.

• DIY sensory table or water table (While I love using this as a table, you can just use the container on the floor as shown above.)
• Plain water
• Glass gems for an ocean look
• Items from Safari Ltd. Coral Reef TOOB
• Dishes for seashells (The stainless steel shell dishes were from Montessori By Mom.)
• My spoon for spooning seashells was from Montessori By Mom (only needed for practical life spooning activity)
• Small Seashells (My seashells were from Montessori By Mom,; you can also find your own seashells at the beach or order seashells from Amazon.)
• Larger seashells for scrubbing (My seashells were from Montessori By Mom; you can also find your own seashells at the beach or order seashells from Amazon.)
• Toothbrush or another brush for scrubbing seashells
• Natural sponge for drying seashells
• Wire strainer/scoop from Montessori Services or Amazon
• Wire cabinet organizer to add a separate shelf/drawer
• Small glass pitcher/creamer
• Small decanter
• Stainless steel funnel

Feel free to adapt your water table for your family. These are just the materials I used.

Coral Reef Vocabulary

The Safari Ltd. Coral Reef TOOB gives lots of opportunities for vocabulary. This is a perfect way for young children to learn the names of fish and other animals in the coral reef. Of course, like Zoey, your child may want to know what types of fish Dory and Nemo are! If you use the free Coral Reef TOOB key, you can help them learn the names of the fish using the Montessori 3-period lesson. I put out part of the items from the Coral Reef TOOB right away and saved others for another day to add interest and change it up.

Water Table Practical Life Activities

It was fun adding a variety of practical life activities to the water table. Activities such as pouring, spooning, and scooping are easy to add to a water table. An eye dropper or baster can be fun additions, too.

Zoey did work with spooning and scrubbing the smaller seashells (although they aren’t shown in the video) as well as scrubbing the larger seashells. You could have an extra large seashell for scrubbing, too.

Zoey always works with her sensory bins for long periods of time. You’ll probably be surprised at how long your child will work with a sensory bin or table. And it’s a calming activity … very much like a Montessori peace activity.

Indoor DIY Coral Reef Water Table with Practical Life Activities

While the DIY water table is perfect for use outdoors in warm or hot weather, it can be used indoors in any weather. After Zoey used the water table outdoors, I moved it indoors. Now it’s available for her to work with any time she wishes. And we can easily take it back outdoors, too … it’s very portable!

More Montessori-Inspired Ocean Activities

• Montessori-Inspired Ocean Unit
• Montessori-Inspired Beach Language Activities
• Montessori-Inspired Resources for World Oceans Day
• Montessori-Inspired Ocean Math Activities
• Shark Unit Study
• Montessori-Inspired Turtle Activities
• Shells and Starfish Activities + Free Printable from Montessori By Mom
• Free Shark Printables and Montessori-Inspired Shark Activities
• Shark Water-Bead Number or Letter Sensory Bin
• Farm, Zoo, & Ocean Animal Sensory Bottles for Babies and Toddlers
• Montessori-Inspired Toddler Geography Activities with Baby Beluga
• Coral Reef Kit and Sensory Bin
• Letters and Words in the Sand {Montessori-Inspired Beach Phonics Fun}
• Wonderful Whale and Water-Bead Sensory Bin {Free Printables}
• Seashell and Sea Life Nature Tray: How to Teach Vocabulary Using the 3-Period Lesson
• Free Turtle Printables and Montessori-Inspired Turtle Activities,
• Free Turtle Do-a-Dot Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
• Free Turtle Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
• Seashell Color Matching {Easy-to-Prepare Variation of Montessori Color Box 3}
• Ocean Unit Study Pinterest Board

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