Rough Smooth Boards

I love our DIY boards we put together a couple of months ago- My husband cut 10 boards 5inx5in and I glued 5 different grades of sandpaper with hot glue. This will allow you to have a set to match. 

 I introduced the rough and smooth boards to Indie (14 months) this week. She really loved feeling the textures. I also sat with her and asked her some simple questions- 

This is rough. Can you feel rough? (touch the rough board)

This is smooth. Can you feel the smooth board? (touch the smooth board)

Can you show me the rough board?

Can you show me the smooth board?

This age is a tad bit young but anytime I can sit down with her and she seems interested- I say go for it.

With Barrett (4 1/2) I gave him the five different textures and asked him to grade them roughest to smoothest and then again smoothest to roughest. I made the mistake of buying sandpaper that was different colors for each grade- I would recommend seeking out ones all the same color. It was a little tricky to get him to use feel instead of sight- a blindfold would help as an alternative. You can ask similar questions to the ones above but I added:

What is this texture?

What does this feel like? 
How would you describe this?

Linking up this week:
Montessori Monday