For those of you who don’t know what a Montessori Sandpaper Globe is, it is a simplified globe with two textures, where the oceans and all bodies of water are smooth and blue and where the lands are rough and beige or in my case green. Your kids can then learn about geography using their little fingers before they get overwhelmed with everything there is on Earth!
You can use any globe you want. An old outdated one, one you picked up at a thrift store, one from the dollar store… Any globe will do since you won’t be able to see anything written on it!
What you will need
- A globe, any kind will do
- Some blue paint
- Any colour sand (or multiple colours if you want to do different colours for different continents)
- Glue
- Paint brushes
How to make your Sandpaper Globe
First, you need to paint, in bleu, all the oceans and the big bodies of water. Depending on the paint you are using, you might need to do several layers. I did 3!
Let it dry completely.
Then, cover the land, one bit at the time, with glue and sprinkle the sand on it, or roll it in the sand. I let my daughter sprinkle the sand on the globe! She made a big mess but had a lot of fun!!! The goal is to cover all the land with sand! Press down a little bit on the sand so it sticks. You might have to do this operation several time as well and reapply the glue and the sand again if some spots are missing. Don’t use a thin glue otherwise it will drip on the oceans!
That’s it! Your Montessori Sandpaper Globe is done!
Now, let your kid touch it and teach them the difference between water and land. How our planet is mostly water. The difference between oceans, lakes, seas… All the different continents. Where you are, where other friends and family members are (if like us you have family all over the world that will help!), where you go on vacation…
