Montessori Metal Inset designs set 4, ocean and beach themed

In my kindergarten/first grade classroom, once my students mastered tracing the basic metal inset shapes, they are welcome to use the metal insets and their imagination to create their own designs. I like having a set of idea cards available as a way to spark their imaginations if they are not sure about where to start. Having these cards available and changing them periodically have really kept my students interested in coming back to the metal insets throughout the school year.

This is an ocean/beach themed set.

The metal insets are a Montessori material that aim at language and handwriting preparation. Using metal insets help with...

-hand eye coordination

-developing pencil grip and fine motor control

-developing focus and concentration

-indirect preparation for learning geometric shapes

This is a set of 10 cards, each one representing at least one of the metal inset shapes.

Those shapes include circle, ellipse, oval, curvilinear triangle, quatrefoil, square, rectangle, trapezoid, triangle, and pentagon. Each card has the name of the shape, how many times it is used to create the design, and the name of the design.

This set also includes pages that can be used as front and back covers as they make their own booklet of metal inset designs. I often print this page on colored paper or fancy printer paper. In my class, students use the cover pages once they've made a set of at least one of each metal inset. They staple it into a booklet and then take it home to share with their families. Each cover includes information for families on the value of using Metal Insets in the Montessori classroom.

More metal inset design sets to come.