Montessori Sensorial: Mystery Bag

“This is the Mystery Bag.”

The Mystery Bag Lesson: Presentation I – One Bag Only

• Open the bag and remove one object at a time, name it, and set it down forming a vertical line.
• “Let’s put them back in the bag now. Would you give me the …?” Continue until all objects have been replaced into the bag.

• Close the bag and insert your hand
• Visually think about the object you are grasping in the bag: “I think maybe I am holding a…”
• Remove the hand with the object in it. Hold it up for the child to verify.
• Ask the child: “Now would you like a turn guessing what is in the mystery bag?”

The Mystery Bag Lesson: Presentation II – Two Identical Bags with Identical Objects

Take the objects out of one bag, then the other bag, name and pair them.

• Leave one half of the pair out of the bag. Place the other half in the bag.
• Reach into the mystery bag with one hand, grab an object, and point to the one on the table that you think you have found.

Or

• Place both halves of each pair back into their bags.
• Reach into one bag, grab an object, identify it and pull it out.
• Then reach into the other bag to find its mate.
• Alternatively, reach into both bags at the same time and search for the same objects.

Best,
Marnie