Opening and Closing a Drawer
A low drawer, just for them, always holding the same thing inside.
Opening and Closing a Drawer is a Montessori activity for a child aged 12 to 18 months. Area: Fine Motor. Time: 5-10 min.
What the activity builds
Judge how hard to pull and push, and discover that a hidden object still exists.
The materials
- A low, light drawer, or a drawer box set on the floor
- A single familiar object to put inside
- An anti-pinch guard, or a drawer that doesn't slam shut on its own
How to do it, step by step
- Show them the closed drawer, put your hand on the handle, and pull slowly.
- Take the object out, show it to them, then put it back in.
- Push the drawer all the way shut, gently.
- Step back and let them do the whole cycle.
- Leave the drawer accessible: they'll come back to it on their own, several times a day.
The parent's role
Show once, then step back. Just one object in the drawer, the same one for several weeks. A full drawer turns into a dumping ground, and the child empties it without ever closing it. The goal is the complete cycle, opening AND closing.
Safety
⚠️ Fingers get pinched in drawers: choose a light drawer with no spring-loaded closing, or add a soft-close guard. The furniture must be BOLTED TO THE WALL, a child leaning on an open drawer can tip the whole piece over. No dangerous products or objects in the other drawers.
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: the drawer already open a crack.
- Harder: a box with a lid that snaps into place.
- Extension: two drawers, one for socks, one for a hat.
Up next
More activities for a 12 to 18 months child.
Self-Feeding with a Spoon
A heavy bowl, thick oatmeal, and a spoon that finally makes it to its target.
Taking Off Socks
The very first dressing skill works backward: we take off before we put on.
Reaching an Arm into a Sleeve
Getting dressed together is already getting dressed: they reach, you hold the sleeve.
Putting a Toy in the Basket
One object, one basket, one spot: cleanup starts with just a single thing.
Wiping Their Face with a Washcloth
A warm washcloth, a mirror at their height, and the first care they give themselves.
Throwing Trash Away
Carrying a scrap paper to the trash can and dropping it in: one complete little job.
The Floor Mirror
A low mirror, and a child who spends long minutes discovering that face is their own.
The Sensory Bottle
Water, glitter, a glued on cap: the world slows down inside a bottle.
The Fabric Basket
Silk, wool, velvet: the hand learns to tell them apart before words do.
Cold or Warm
Two washcloths, two temperatures, and a sensation that finally gets a name.
Banging on Pots and Pans
A wooden spoon, three pots, and the very first kitchen orchestra.
Pulling Scarves from a Box
A tissue box, knotted scarves, and a pulling motion that never seems to end.
Dropping Balls into a Basket
Grabbing is easy, letting go at the right moment is its own whole skill to learn.
Nesting Cups
Three cups, three sizes: the smallest always ends up inside the biggest.
Turning Board Book Pages
A book is an object before it's a story, and a page turns with just two fingers.
The Ball Tube
The ball goes in at the top, disappears, and comes out below: pure mechanical magic.
Narrating Bath Time
Bath time becomes a vocabulary lesson, as long as you name what you're doing.
Naming What You See Through the Window
Nothing to prepare: the world goes by outside the glass, waiting to be named.
The Family Faces Album
Real photos of the people they love, in an album they can open themselves.
Peekaboo with a Scarf
A face disappears, a face comes back: the game that proves what leaves can return.
Filling and Emptying
The full bucket, the empty bucket, and the endless trip between the two.
In and Out
The object goes into the box, the object comes out of the box: the first idea of space.
The Fruit and Vegetable Basket
Real fruit, heavy and fragrant, to weigh in the hand long before it's eaten.
The Toddler's Eye View Walk
About fifty yards in twenty minutes: the slowest walk you'll take, and the richest.