When it comes to creating a Montessori environment it's hard to go past the ideals. Space is an ideal. But the true essence of a Montessori environment? It's thoughtfulness, it's knowing your child and meeting their needs, regardless of your circumstance. That is why I find this little kitchen so delightful!
Hannah is Montessori trained and is a nanny to a very lucky Helmi who is 19 months old. Living in Paris Hannah has the challenge of creating a Montessori environment in a very tight space. There are so many little touches here that make this environment simple but perfect. It contains all the right things to encourage Helmi's independence and sense of self.
I'll let Hannah explain;
"We just created a drawer for Helmi in the kitchen. It has a sign on it for her to know it is her drawer. We taped a little towel on the bottom of it (after a couple of days) to stop things from shifting around in it. This works really well. In the drawer Helmi has a big jar of cereal, a little glass, a cup and tiny pitcher, a bowl, a napkin, a sponge and her silverware (fork, spoon and spreader). She usually loves to take her things out of the drawer and put them back in. When we prepare her meals she will get out, what we ask her for. On one of the pictures you can see that we added a little triangle-shaped table right next to her drawer, which she sometimes uses to have a little snack or to prepare something. The kitchen is teeny tiny, so it was hard to make space for her there, but I think we did fairly well. It is still a work in progress, though, as we wanted to add some pictures to her little corner."
This space is a great example of order. Notice how there aren't too many things in the drawer, it's not overcrowded, every item can be found with a quick look and there is a specific place for everything. I also love the towel taped on the bottom of the drawer, I'm going to use this idea for Otis's drawer.
Thank you to Hannah and her family for sharing Helmi's kitchen space.
If you have a Montessori kitchen that you would like to share please email me at howwemontessori@gmail.com.
