My oldest son was cutting paper for about a year before I introduced him to cutting green beans. Cutting green beans you say?!?!?! Have you ever snapped green beans? You know, bought they fresh and then you break them half and pinch of the ends before you cook them.

Well this process is much faster with a pair of kitchen shears, and I figured if I could use them to cut the green beans, so could he. So even though we do not have child sized kitchen shears, we do have child sized craft scissors and those worked just as well.

As with everything Montessori, there is an order or sequence in the work. I demonstrated how to cut the green beans before I handed him his scissors, because if he was holding his scissors while I was presenting he would have been too excited to pay me any mind. Okay, after the demonstration and invited him to begin snipping the ends of the green beans and then cutting them half. I worked in the kitchen while he worked at his table side by side as I felt confident he could safely without my direct supervision.

It was a wild success and he was so proud to tell Daddy, they he helped prepared dinner. I think that practical life skills in the kitchen are some of my favorite Montessori work, because I can actually see my child’s confidence growing as we work side by side.