Work Wednesday: Push Pinning


Has your child been bringing home small shapes such as leaves that appear to have been punched from construction paper? Have you ever wondered why?

In Montessori, this work is called push pinning. The child prepares their work area by collecting all of the necessary materials including a tray, felt mat, one piece of construction paper with a simple shape traced on it, and a push pin. The child uses the push pin to perforate along the entire outline of the shape and then carefully separates the shape from the original piece of paper. Sometimes, the child will glue both their shape outline and the negative space outline to a contrasting piece of paper to create their very own artwork.

Children are very proud of their push pinning work, and they should be! Push pinning develops concentration, self discipline, fine motor muscles, and the pincer grasp.  

The next time your child brings home push pinning work, remember to tell them how proud you are of all of their hard work and concentration!