Practical Life: Care of Self - Dressing Frames

A traditional Montessori dressing frame - the button frame

A student wearing the zipper vest while doing the drying the cloths activity

Direct Objectives: Development of order, concentration, coordination, and independence. Development of pincer grip.

Indirect Objectives: Development of the ability to fasten/unfasten. Development of mathematical mind with one to one correspondence.

In a Montessori environment, you usually see dressing frames (a wooden frame, 12 x 12 with two panels of fabric fastened with a variety of fasteners – buttons, zippers, snapping, hook and eye, buckle, safety pin, and bow tying, etc.) The child begins with the large button frame and continues on through the bow tying frame.

However, in my classroom, I wanted the dressing tools to be even more true-to-life, so I had one of the preschool mothers make a set of dressing vests. I've found that the students are much more likely to pick the dressing vests than they were to pick the dressing frames.