Writing an Instruction Sheet
They explain in writing something they know how to do, and someone else has to follow it.
Writing an Instruction Sheet is a Montessori activity for a child aged 6 to 8 years. Area: Language. Time: 20-30 min.
What the activity builds
Produce a useful, well-organized text, and discover that writing exists to be understood by someone else.
The materials
- Paper and a pencil
- An activity they really know how to do: folding a paper airplane, setting the table
- A willing reader, you or a sibling
How to do it, step by step
- Ask them to do the activity once in front of you, in silence.
- Let them write the steps, in order, one per line, numbered.
- Take their sheet and follow it EXACTLY as written, without guessing anything.
- Stop right where an instruction is missing, without explaining why.
- Let them fix their sheet, then try the test again.
The parent's role
Show once, then step back. Following the text to the letter is the whole point: if the step says "fold the paper," fold it any old way. That's not teasing, it's the most effective control of error there is for writing.
Safety
Choose an activity with no risk for the test: no cooking, no cutting tool. Keep it a game, and stop before they get discouraged.
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: three steps only, with a drawing for each.
- Harder: the instructions have to work with no drawings at all.
- Extension: give the sheet to someone who doesn't know the activity.
Up next
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