Montessori Imbucare Box – Developing Object Permanence

Imbucare Box

The traditional Montessori Material, the Imbucare Box, introduces children to the concept of object permanence whilst also providing opportunities to develop hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. To create your own, all you need is a container with an opening, and some found objects. Imbucare boxes can be made with a protein shaker, tissue box, cereal container, or any type of house-hold object that has an opening. Please ensure you select objects that are child-safe and not a choking hazard. Imbucare box activities should always be supervised.

Home Lesson One

1. Create an imbucare box from a container at home and a number of child safe objects (if you don’t have anything child-safe you can always create objects  such as discs from cut-out card board)
2. Show your infant how to drop the object into the opening of the container
3. You may choose to add the words “open” “shut” and “gone”
4. Invite your child to take a turn

Home Lesson Two

1. For older children you can extend on this activity by counting the objects as they go into the container

Home Lesson Three

1. For older children you can extend on this activity even further by adding classification and sorting activities