Window cleaning is a great Montessori Practical Life activity perfect for the home. Here’s how we do it–

Here is Mackenzie with her spray bottle – just water inside.  What I like about this bottle is, though the part you squeeze is wide for little hands, it is quite loose, so they were able to get water out of the bottle early on by using both hands. We have another spray bottle that is smaller and tighter and took much longer for them to master.

She can finally ‘one-hand’ it!

She uses a squeegee to wipe the water off the window

She finishes by wiping it with a small soft cloth.

Window cleaning is very attractive to young children because they love anything that involves water. Add the cool tools (spray bottle, squeegee) that go with it, and it’s a true winner that they are happy to do over and over again!

I can’t say our windows are any cleaner since they’ve started doing this activity, but my favorite part is leaving the house and then looking in to find their little silhouettes busy wiping down the window. It’s amazing to watch them work with such intensity!

The right material is key for your toddler, make sure you consider the size, weight and feel of each item before purchasing it. Here’s where I bought mine:

Squeegee: This one from Montessori Services is narrow enough for small hands to hold and maneuver

Spray bottle: Make sure you test it out before buying it. I bought mine at a local bath and beauty store, but this one seems to have gotten good reviews

Cloth: I used these as burp cloths when they were babies. Now they are the perfect length, width and thickness for window wiping!

Tray: This tray is light to carry and sized perfectly to hold everything together.