Kit's Montessori Room
I would like to introduce you to Kit. She is six months old and lives with her Mum Belle and Dad Tim in Sydney. Quite remarkably Kit and her family live in a small flat with zero storage which explains why her Dad's bike is mounted in her room. Belle was first exposed to Montessori through her Stepmother's involvement at her brother's Montessori school. Although Kit's room can only be described as tiny it's not lacking in any way. I know you'll love and appreciate the details as much as I do!
Above you can see Tim's bike securely mounted to the wall (a necessity for the tight spaced flat) next to her change table and Gobbi (from Etsy). The elephant decal above the wall mirror is from The Wall Sticker Company.
Kit has several mobiles which is really needed at this age. Mobiles are generally rotated to keep the child's interest. You can see that Kit has visual and tactile mobiles. 3M hooks are used on the wall to keep the mobiles that are not being used out of the way and prevent Kit from being overstimulated.
Above left Kit is playing with her wooden rattle and to the right is with her Primary Colours Mobile (from Beginning Montessori). You can see how much Kit loves her mobiles!
Above Kit is playing with the giant pom pom that Belle made from wool. The pom pom has bells threaded at the top and hangs on elastic. Kit started batting at it and now grabs it with her hands and feet and shakes it. You can also see above how Kit is interacting with her wall mirror.
Above left Kit is reaching for her crawling basket which can be seen in further detail below. Above right Kit is under a bird mobile from Puka Puka. The mobile stand can be moved from room to room and was made by Belle. So clever! It is made from a heavy hard wood which has been sanded smooth and oiled. The mobiles are held by a piece of aluminium attached to the wood block. The mobile stand is 1.5 meters high and is so easy to transport that it sometimes goes with Kit when visiting her Grandparents.
Above you can see the floor of the room is covered by rubber tiles from Clarks rubber. The flat is rented and Belle wasn't entirely comfortable with Kit crawling over the existing carpet. What an easy solution. On the right are big bookshelves. The first two bookshelves are used for storage and the front is covered by MDF which is held securely in place with industrial velcro. A blackboard wall sticker has been applied to the MDF for aesthetics and also for Kit to use when she is older. The end bookshelf is left open for Kit's baskets.
The fish mobile show above was handmade using bath toy fish and fishing line. The breastfeeding chair is from Ikea. The floor bed mattress is also from Ikea. There are two pieces of artwork attached to the wall at a perfect height for Kit.
The baskets above and below are from Ikea. I love these as they provide for a wonderful tactile experience. Kit loves the coarse texture and they crumple down if she rolls on them.
The basket above left is her teething basket. This basket contains wooden beads, a face washer, Sophie the Giraffe and a gifted little wooden football. On the right is her crawling basket. It contains the Manhattan beads from Hello Baby Direct and the Ball Cylinder from Beginning Montessori. Both of these baskets are kept at the end of Kit's bed.
Above top left is a collection of books and a musical instrument basket. The books are rotated every fortnight. The Owl and the Pussycat is Kit's current favourite. In the basket there is a rattle from Infancy, another wooden rattle from Eco Toys and interlocking rings from Beginning Montessori.
Above top right is a basket including an egg and a cup and a stacking toy from Eco Toys. These are a little advanced for Kit so they are stored on the higher shelf. This is a great example of thinking ahead by Belle. These toys are the next stage for Kit and I'm sure will be used within a few months. It's great to be prepared and have some toys ready. On the bottom left there is a basket for soft toys. On the bottom right a basket of pom poms and a basket of soft finger puppets. The finger puppets are from Ikea.
Here you can see the baskets in the bookshelf and some low art work. Overall Belle stresses that you don't need to spend a lot or have a lot of space to create a wonderful environment for your infant.