Naming What You See Through the Window
Nothing to prepare: the world goes by outside the glass, waiting to be named.
Naming What You See Through the Window is a Montessori activity for a child aged 12 to 18 months. Area: Language. Time: 5 min.
What the activity builds
Build vocabulary from real life, by following what your child is actually looking at.
The materials
- A window, and something to hold them at the right height
- Nothing else
How to do it, step by step
- Hold them or set them up at window height, well supported.
- Stay quiet, and look in the same direction they're looking.
- Wait until they focus on something or point at it.
- Then name that thing, just once: "the bird."
- Wait for their next glance, without trying to fill the silence.
The parent's role
Show once, then step back. The rule is to follow their gaze, not direct your own. A word given for the thing they're really looking at gets learned; a word given for what you chose misses the mark. That's the whole difference.
Safety
An open window at child height is a deadly hazard: keep it closed, or fitted with a window lock. Never place climbable furniture under a window, and hold them firmly if they're in your arms.
You remain the sole judge of what is right for your child. These activities are offered for educational and recreational purposes: they do not replace medical advice or the guidance of an early childhood professional.
Ways to adapt the activity
- Easier: one thing a day, always the same.
- Harder: name what the object is doing too, "the car is driving."
- Extension: find the same object as a picture in a board book.
Up next
More activities for a 12 to 18 months child.
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