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Walk the Line Montessori Grace and Courtesy Lesson

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This Montessori Grace and Courtesy lesson is one of my favorite Montessori Practical Life lessons. The activity promotes such wonders like self regulation, balance, gross motor skills, calmness and grace. Plus it is a snap to integrate into your classroom or home.

Montessori Grace and Courtesy Walk the Line Lesson

Materials for Walk the Line

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All you need is tape to create the “line”, plus a basket with fun objects to create variations of Walking on the Line like:

  • A bell
  • A cup for water
  • Beads in a small dish
  • A bead and a small spoon
  • Bean bag for balancing on a child’s head

Montessori grace and courtesy walk the line lesson variations

How to Create the Line

I love this description from Info Montessori of how to create the line: “The “line” used during this exercise is a continuous and permanent shape in the environment. With its two straight lines and two lightly curved sides, an ellipse is what most environments have found to be the most suitable for this lesson.”

Montessori Grace and Courtesy Walk the Line Lesson

  • Ideally, the child walks on the line without shoes.
  • The width of the line should actually be a bit wider than a child’s shoe. I have never seen a line that wide, so don’t worry too much about that detail.
  • The line should be in plain view and should not have the children walking through or around any obstacles in the room.
  • Playing lovely classical music, or any calming music, is a wonderful addition.  One of my instructors used this exercise as a way to bring the children together at the start of the day.
  • Demonstrate to the children how to walk on the line by having them sit on the line.  Show them the slow movement and heel toe foot action.
  • Let the children know they can walk on the line whenever they would like to during the day.
  • Wait until the child has mastered simply walking on the line before adding any creative variations from the basket.

Modeling the Montessori grace and courtesy walk the line lesson

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Marnie

About Marnie Craycroft

Marnie hails from Maine where she spent summers buried in sand and winters buried in snow. She is the daughter of a nearly four decade veteran of the public school systems. Teaching has always been a part of her life. She founded Carrots Are Orange in 2010.

Carrots Are Orange is a Montessori learning and living website for parents and teachers.

Marnie graduated from Wesleyan University in 1999 with a BA in Economics. She spent nearly a decade working in investment management. In 2006, she earned her MA in business from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business.

Marnie moved to the west coast in 1999 and currently lives in Boulder with her husband and three sons. She is Montessori trained. Her work has been featured on Apartment Therapy, Buzzfeed, PBS Kids, BabyCenter, the Melissa & Doug blog, Huffington Post, and WhattoExpect.com. Besides writing, passions include running (usually after her three sons), photography, and outdoor adventures.

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