Montessori Pick of the Day

Peg dolls

Peg dolls can be used for endless creative play and art. 

They are fun to decorate for holidays and special occasions too. 

 

Kitchen Fun

Children love to play in their little kitchens. Wooden food items provide hours of fun for your little chef.

I love the egg yolks in these wooden eggs.

 

 

Advent Paper Chain

You can use paper chains to count down any event or holiday.

An Advent Paper Chain has some fun and educational ideas!

Paper Chains

Paper chains are so much fun to make for the holidays. You just need colored paper, scissors and a glue stick. 

It's a great family project!

Toddler Hide and Seek

Toddlers love to play games. Hide a favorite toy with part of it showing in a familiar place. Find the hidden toy with your toddler. Later  your child will understand the game and will be able to find it easily.

 

We love this game. It starts off as a hide and seek game for very young toddlers.

Learn to Tell Time Game

This Clock Game is attractive and a creative way to teach children how to tell time. What a fun way to learn! 

It's very Montessori and hands-on.

Shop for the Best Toys

Toys, there are so many to choose from. Action toys and figures, computer games, toys that bake and make woodworking projects, almost anything we can imagine. Montessori is based on development of the senses, small and large coordination and building academic skills through a hands on approach. Some Montessori type toys are inexpensive, basic, traditional toys. They will give your children hours of fun learning.

Here is a list of some toys I would recommend.

Nesting Blocks 

These blocks fit into each other. You can find these with basic infant toys. Each piece of the toy gradually changes in size. A child can learn concepts of bigger and smaller, how to distinguish small differences in size. This little lesson is essential for the skills of reading and math.

The stacking and nesting tower is similar to the pink tower, but you can use it for both nesting and stacking. This is a toy your child can use for counting, number recognition, and understanding incremental differences in each block. 

Wooden Blocks 

 Sets of blocks that have different sizes and shapes are great for conceptual learning. For example, two triangles make a square, two square blocks make a rectangle-just basic geometry. The basic concepts of gravity, balance, and design are a part of making block structures. .

Here are some ideas for block play.
Have your child make the buildings as high as his or her ankle, knee, hips, elbows, waist, shoulder, and head. This helps measure distance in proportion to your child's body as well as teaching parts of the body.  
Ask your child how many different shapes he or she can make from the blocks. You may have to first introduce to them how to make a cube, square from 2 triangles, and 2 half circles make a whole circle-the list can go on and on.
Using a tape measure or yard/meter stick, let your child measure the dimensions of his or her building. Which side is longer? Which side is shorter?  How tall is the building? How wide? How long?
Block play is a great lesson for visual perception, kinetic learning, and the beginning concepts of geometry.
Teach names for concepts such as on top, beside, behind, underneath, next to, above and below, square, triangle, rectangle, cube, cylinder and circle.

Lego Kits

These were my children's favorite toys. They are great for small motor skills as well. The complex structures and designs seem infinite.

Dolls  

Any doll that a child can dress, wash, and even cuddle is great for developing small motor skills and social and language development.

Balls 

Balls from super big to small are great for large motor skills. Bigger balls are easier for younger children to throw and catch.

Play dishes 

Tea parties are a great opportunity for pouring, a great practical life skill. Washing and drying dishes and stacking and putting the dishes away is a favorite Montessori task.

Tricycles 

Pushing legs on a pedal are great for large muscle development. Steering developes visual perception.

Jungle Gym

If you have room in your garden or backyard these are a great investiment. You don't have to own one, just use the one at your local park for your child's development and adhanced coordination.

Jump Rope 

Jumping is a great activity for coordination for adults and children.

Chalk 

Writing with chalk is great for small motor skills that will help your child's writing and art skills later.

Hopscotch 

Hopscotch is great for large motors kills, foot-eye coordination, balance and counting.

Jacks 

Bouncing the ball and picking up jacks is not only good for motor skills but also encourages counting.

Marbles 

This game can give insight to physics, movement and development of spatial refinement and coordination.

Cars and Trucks 

Pushing a car develops coordination and large and fine motor skills.

Wooden Puzzles 

Puzzles help with fine motor skills and refine perception of space and depth. Easy wooden puzzles with knobs are great for developing the pencil grip. Start with puzzles with only a few pieces and work up to more pieces, and eventually to simple jig saw puzzles.

 

Sewing or Lacing Card 

Sewing cards develop fine motor skills, perceptual concepts and eye hand coordination. They also promote hand work skills

Beads and Wooden Bead Sequencing Set 

Big, wooden beads are easier for young children to handle. This activity helps eye to hand coordination, small motor skills, and promoting sequence patterns. 

Purchase good quality toys that will help your child create, learn and enjoy learning!

 

Holiday Fun

It's a great time of the year to have fun learning with gingerbread activities. Here are some great ideas for your children and adults too!

A Book for Small Hands

Rocky Mountain Wildflowers, A Guide for Kids by Mary L Duber is a wonderful gift for the holidays. This book is easy for children to hold and use. The beautiful flowers are grouped by colors and there is a section where your child can put the place and date they first noted the wildflower. Using a reference like this helps your child observe environment, take notes, discover different shades of color and the growth cycle of plants during different seasons. It is the best way to teach science and reading in an exciting way.

The author has a talent making this interesting and informative, not only for your child, but for you as well. This is a gift for the whole family to enjoy!

Wildflowers are everywhere so this would be a wonderful for classroom field trips too.

Plush Nativity for Kids

For Christmas everything was hands on for my kids. Our ornaments were either soft, plush homemade items or beautiful carved wooden shapes. My children learned at a very young age to take ornaments off the Christmas tree to touch them, look at them, or even walk around holding them. Eventually they would carefully and lovingly put them back on the tree.

We have a carved, wooden nativity set that is beautifully painted. I put it on a low table for children to touch, look at, and enjoy. It gives them such joy to be able to touch the meaning of Christmas.

My children would find small wooden blocks and add to the scene. They made beautiful displays everyday!

During your holiday season it's very Montessori to have everything touchable. I stayed away from frail glass blubs, they just break too easily and have dangerous sharp glass slivers.

Here are some Montessori type Christmas ideas:

I love this plush nativity or creche-even the smallest toddler can touch and hold this!

 

This soft cuddly Mary and Baby Jesus is always appealing to young children age 3 and up.

Here is an easy to make creche or nativity using cardboard tubes!