Montessori-Inspired Activities Using Spheres {Free Printables}

Spielgaben educational toys are real favorites at my house already. Even though most of the Spielgaben toys are for ages 3-12, my 9-month-old granddaughter has been in love with the Spielgaben yarn balls (which are safe for babies and toddlers) for a number of months now. Today, I’m sharing some Montessori-inspired activities using spheres along with free printables. There will be activities here for babies through preschoolers (and one activity that can extend into early elementary).

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Spielgaben. All opinions are honest and my own. This post also contains affiliate links (at no cost to you).

Note: Spielgaben toys are exceptionally high-quality educational toys designed for ages 3-12.

The Spielgaben complete set comes with over 700 pages of full-color printed learning materials. These printed materials help you as a parent or teacher easily use Spielgaben toys educationally with your child and/or students.

Standing with Yarn Balls

I wrote last month about how my granddaughter, Zoey, LOVES  her ball treasure basket. She often had a yarn ball in each hand as she crawled around the living room. Her Spielgaben yarn balls are still the first toys she chooses whenever she’s at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.

Zoey’s first times standing alone at Grandpa and Grandma’s house were with a yarn ball in each hand. (Note: Early on, she wore a Thudguard Baby Protective Safety Helmet until she was stable enough to stand without falling over on occasion.)

First Steps with Yarn Balls

Zoey’s first 11 steps at 9 months were also taken while she was holding a yarn ball in each hand. She often continues to walk around carrying yarn balls.

Sphere Basket

A sphere basket would be a fun way to reinforce the concept of sphere using Spielgaben toys. I used a Spielgaben wooden lacing bead, a wooden sphere from Box 2, and a blue yarn ball. I added a fun sphere song with free printable (“3D Shapes That We Know”) from Kindergarten Works.

Sphere Matching Cards

This activity uses free 3-D Shape Sort Cards from Mrs. Ricca’s Kindergarten and a Spielgaben yarn ball. I placed the cards and yarn ball in a Montessori Services basket (small willow basket, which is a great size for many card materials).

You could just have your child lay out the cards, but I think it would be the most fun to have your child find the objects pictured on the cards in your home and bring them to the rug. (I typically lay activities out on Montessori Services rugs.) For a toddler who still mouths objects, you could omit the card with the marbles.

Sphere Hunt Tray

The sphere hunt tray uses a free printable sphere sheet from Math-Salamanders.com. Your child could search for spheres of all kinds, or you could hide Spielgaben lacing beads, yarn balls, and other spheres around the house for your child to find, gather in the basket, and place on the sphere sheet.

Decorate a Sphere Tray

This activity uses a free sphere printable from Kidspot that can be used for decorating with markers or colored pencils. I added the paper to a large plastic tray from Montessori Services along with a pencil box to hold the colored pencils.

UPDATE:

Special deal for my readers!

All My Spielgaben Posts

Many of these include links to free printables! (Click on an image to go to the related blog post. The gallery is ordered according to publication date with my latest post at the top.)

Version 4 of Spielgaben Educational Toys 

I highly recommend Spielgaben as an amazing educational material for home or school. Even though the toys aren’t inexpensive, they’re definitely worth the price because of the high quality of materials and number of years your children or students can use them.

Special deal for my readers!