Areas of Our Montessori Home - Room by Room
You can see Montessori in almost every area of our home. I want to provide, as much as I can, an overall picture of what our home looks like room by room. Every space changes, it develops as the children get older however most of these spaces are the same from when our toddler was around 18 months to present at 26 months. Our home is far from perfect but it is a process of observing our children and making changes to meet their needs.
Kitchen (above) - kitchen helper so that my toddler can reach the kitchen sink and work at the kitchen bench independently or alongside me.
Kitchen - tap turner. We use a tap turner on the cold tap as my toddler can't reach the taps and this helps him to independently turn the water on and off.
Kitchen - toddler baking shelves, includes baking materials and a few practical life supplies.
Kitchen - toddler baking and food preparation table. This is so useful for my toddler to be able to work at his level or for practical life work in the kitchen. While he can bake here he can also put his cup here and pour himself some juice or milk. This table also has a drawer and a shelf underneath which is useful for storing his utensils (in the drawer) and baking trays (on the shelf).
Kitchen - toddler fridge, includes water dispenser, snacks, toddler glasses. This is fantastic for developing autonomy. He doesn't need to ask for a drink or a small snack.
Kitchen - Tripp Trap at the kitchen table, for independently sitting at the kitchen table. He also has a Montessori weaning table (not pictured) in our playroom for eating. He will usually eat at the kitchen table for family meals like dinner and eat snack and lunch at his weaning table.
Entryway - toddler dressing area for shoes and coats, this is in a small space under our stairs. Includes a small chair for sitting on when putting his shoes on, basket for socks and gloves and some low hanging hooks for backpacks and coats.
Living Area - toilet learning area, includes small chair for dressing, clean underwear, potty, bucket and wipes. Ideally this would go in the bathroom or toilet but these areas are too small. We also have a toilet learning area upstairs.
Playroom - toddler block corner. This is a fairly new addition. A nice woollen rug and lots of blocks. This creates a dedicated area for block building.
Playroom - play mat and work shelves. We rotate all large toys including the Pikler Arch.
Playroom - large work table. This table is now pushed forward so it is in front of the play mat. It is the table that my toddler will use when he is doing puzzles and drawing, otherwise he will work on the floor/play mat. In our playroom we also have some art shelves. I don't have a good picture of the art shelves (for play dough, cutting, pasting, paint sticks, pastels) but I should provide an update.
Toddler Bedroom - Montessori floor bed.
Toddler Bedroom - wardrobe and dressing area, includes wardrobe and clothes, toddler chair, laundry basket. You can see this same area at 18 months here.
Toddler Bedroom - work/play shelves in bedroom. For us it's important to have some toys and materials in the bedroom for our toddler to use around bedtime, in the morning and for a little quiet time when everyone else is upstairs. This is a 'yes' space though so we only put out materials that our toddler doesn't need super close supervision for, so no scissors or art materials. You can also see this space at 17 months here. Not pictured are our toddler bookshelves, it's important to mention that he has a small forward facing bookshelf in his room for board books only!
Parent's Office - toddler writing station. This area prioritises drawing, scribbling and writing. The only materials used here are paper, pencils and crayons.
Bathroom - basin on the sink, also a low hook for a hand towel, shelves in bath/shower at toddler height, toddler bath toys.
Outside - water and sand table, easel, wheelbarrow, gardening tools, pot plants to water.
Outside - clothes washing area.
If you like this type of overview you may also like In A Montessori Home. This is a brief guide, one of the first (and original) books I read about Montessori in the home.