DIY Montessori Smelling Bottles

I love the beauty of Montessori materials. I wish I could purchase them all. I can’t though, as a homeschooler especially. Practical Life works are the easiest to DIY. Here is one example: Smelling Bottles, a Sensorial work within Montessori. Read my “What is Montessori? {Sensorial}” to learn more about this area.

Materials:

• Small bottles (I bought mine at a local Arts Supply Store but you can find them in a grocery store in the travel sized section
• Cotton balls
• Various scents (I used Vanilla, Peppermint and Lemon extracts)

Approach:

• Start with only a few pairs, two or three pairs of bottles.
• Create some way to know the pairs. I placed colored sticker dots on the bottom of the pairs.
• Put a few drops of the extract on cotton balls to make the pairs
• Then invite your child to do the work by using a traditional Montessori approach

Here is how I learned the work in my Montessori program:

Presentation I: Smelling one of each bottle in the set

“Would you like me to show you how to use the smelling bottles?”

• Remove the bottles from the box using the 3-finger grip.
• Line bottles horizontally from left to right
• Pick up far left bottle, unscrew lid and place lid on the table.
• Hold bottle below the nose and smell contents. Place bottle on table and replace lid.
• Continue until you’ve worked through each bottle. Offer the child a turn. As child works through the smelling bottles, ask him what the smell reminds him of

Presentations II-IV

Prepare basket with three pairs. Add additional pairs until all are available.

“Let’s do some matching with the smelling bottles today.”

• Remove bottles from tray and position in an inverted V or rooftop with the bottle colors separated by side (left side is one color, right side is one color)
• Isolate lower left below the “V”. Smell the bottle with the same procedure as in Presentation I.
• Select lower right bottle, open and sniff it. If it is a match, move next to control. Sniff the control. Sniff the mate. “These two smell the same. They are a pair.” Re-cap and move the pair to the left.
• Repeat until you have matched all the pairs.

So take the same approach with your DIY bottles and have fun with it! Thanks for visiting! I hope that we inspired you.

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Marnie Craycroft

Founder, Publisher, Writer & Editor at Carrots Are Orange, Inc.

Marnie began Carrots Are Orange in 2010 after the birth of her first son. Carrots Are Orange is a Montessori inspired homeschooling blog for parents and educators. She hails from Maine, a wonderfully down to earth place to grow up. Marnie moved to the west coast in 1999, currently living in Seattle with her husband and two young boys. She is pursuing Montessori certification.

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