Button Frame

Button Frame
Practical Life - Care of the Person
Level	Primary
Age	3 - 5
Prerequisites	Grasping Transfer
Materials	Button Frame

In this activity the child learns how to button and unbutton.

Presentation

1. Take the button frame to a table or mat.

   

2. Pinch the button in the right hand and pull the button-hole open with the left hand.

   

3. Guide the button half-way through the button-hole.

   

4. Pull back the fabric and take the button out the rest of the way.

   

5. Do the same with the rest of the buttons.
6. To close the buttons, push half of the button through the button-hole.

   

7. Pull the button with the right hand and pull the button-hole open with the left to allow the button to pass through.

   

Variations and Extensions

• button frames with large and small buttons are available

Button Snake

A fun variation on the button frame is a button snake or felt snake. You will need a ribbon with a button sewn at one end, and squares of felt with button holes cut to match the size of the button. The button is pushed through the hole in a felt square, and then you slide the square down the ribbon.

• You can sew a button at one end and glue a felt square near the other end:

  
  

  Source: Jonah Lisa Land

• You can also sew a button on both ends of the ribbon:

  

  Source: What Did We Do All Day?

• You can also sew the end of the ribbon in a loop:

  

  Source: Counting Coconuts

• The felt can be cut into different shapes:

  

  Source: Counting Coconuts

Material

Where to Buy

(For sets of dressing frames and stands see Dressing Frames.)

Large Buttons
Absorbent Montessori $12.00
Adena $8.89
Affordable Montessori $15.00 (for toddlers)
Affordable Montessori $12.00
Albanesi $50.00
Alison's $12.00 (for toddlers)
Alison's $13.50
Alison's $25.00
Bruins $35.00
Caliber $8.99
Creative Learning $9.95
E & O $25.00
Early School $28.00
ETC Montessori $35.00
IFIT $11.00
Juliana $44.10
Kid Advance $11.99
Lord Co. $42.50
Materials Co. of Boston $33.00
Mindset $12.73
Mindset $35.47
Montessori Concepts $9.00
Montessori Land $19.00
Montessori Outlet $10.95
Nienhuis $39.40

Small Buttons
Absorbent Montessori $12.00
Adena $9.16
Affordable Montessori $12.00
Albanesi $50.00
Alison's $13.50
Alison's $15.00
Alison's $25.00
Bruins $35.00
Caliber $8.99
Creative Learning $9.95
E & O $25.00
Early School $28.00
ETC Montessori $35.00
IFIT $11.00
Juliana $44.10
Kid Advance $9.99
Materials Co. of Boston $33.00
Mindset $12.73
Mindset $35.47
Montessori Concepts $9.00
Montessori Land $19.00
Montessori Outlet $10.95
Nienhuis $39.40

Elastic Buttons
Alison's $13.50
Alison's $13.50

Further Reading

• Basic Montessori: Learning Activities for Under-fives by David Gettman, pages 44-46
• Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Pre-School Years by Elizabeth G. Hainstock, pages 23, 91
• Teach Me to Do It Myself by Maja Pitamic, pages 20-21