Family play guides · gugiboard team · Published October 2026

Montessori-inspired open and close games: jars, boxes and buttons

Opening something is a small action with an obvious result. In gugiboard’s Open & close activity, three recognizable objects respond differently: a jar lid turns, a box lid lifts and a fabric fastening opens. These digital practical-life games invite observation and repetition without a score.

The materials you will find

The activity contains a screw-top jar, a wooden box and a button on fabric. Their different moving parts help you talk about turning, lifting and fastening rather than treating every tap as the same action.

Sharing the activity

From Home, choose Montessori, Practical Life and Open & close. Tap the jar to open it, then tap again to close it. Try the box and button separately so each movement has time to become clear.

Let your child choose the order. Opening and closing the same object repeatedly is allowed; there is no countdown or requirement to finish all three. Undo and redo let you revisit the last change.

What to notice without a test

Compare the turning lid with the hinged lid. You might say “It turns” beside the jar and “It lifts” beside the box. A visible state change gives a shared point of attention without asking your child to explain it.

Watch rather than test. A child may prefer the button or stop before closing the box. Both are reasonable choices in a child-led activity, and neither produces a failure message.

Continue away from the screen

Try a large, empty, unbreakable container with an adult. Keep lids, hinges and fasteners under supervision and avoid loose buttons or small pieces that could be swallowed.

A screen cannot reproduce resistance, weight or the coordination of working with real fabric. Use the digital action as a conversation starter, then spend time with safe objects your child can actually hold.

Two languages, a calm pace

Open / abrir, close / cerrar, jar / frasco, box / caja and button / botón are useful pairs. Say one word naturally while looking at the object, not as a vocabulary quiz.

gugiboard’s Montessori area is Montessori-inspired, not an accredited program or a replacement for physical Montessori materials. Its five worlds and 28 activities have no points, rewards, countdowns, automatic advancement, background music or idle characters. Home, mute, undo and redo keep choices with the family. Share brief sessions, leave time for movement, books and real play, and stop when interest fades.

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WHO: Guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for children under 5 years of age

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