“The first aim of the prepared environment is, as far as is possible,to render the growing child independent of the adult. That is, it isa place where he can do things for himself, to live his own life,

without the immediate help of adults.”E.M. Standing, Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work p. 267

 

The practical life exercises develop and strengthen independence, motor-coordination, concentration, sequential memory and social skills. These tasks are often deceptively simple in appearance. They establish a pattern of how the child should view himself and value himself. The child builds the basic trust in himself and confirms the basic trust in the environment. The practical life exercises are activities we do in our daily life to care for ourselves and our surroundings, such as getting dressed, wiping our nose, preparing food, setting the table, dusting plants, sweeping the floor, washing dishes, etc.

Most early practical life exercises are open-ended; the child may work on them as long as his attention lasts before putting his work away and moving to something else. This allows the child to extend his attention span naturally. Later practical life exercises (at the Primary level), such as the food preparation and cleaning exercises, have many steps to challenge the child’s memory and sequencing skills.