Are you looking for a gift for a three-year-old? There are a lot of gift ideas here. I hope you find this list helpful! Scooter (AU here) - three is a great time to start scootering if your child hasn't already. This is the same scooter we have and still use at five years. Screw Board - promotes fine motor skills, coordination, concentration and focus. Silk Streamer - I like this for playing outside with the wind; we've given it as a gift many times. Children's Measuring Tape - for exploring length and math concepts at home. Children's Stop Watch... Read more →

Are you looking for ideas or inspiration for your Montessori home? I love taking a peek into other family homes but I don't love scrolling through social media. Today I've picked out a few gems that I hope you'll enjoy! This is a wonderful example of an infant movement area incorporating a weaning table, low shelves with age-appropriate materials, a mirror, a movement mat and a butterfly mobile. The highlight for me is the artwork at the child's level just above the weaning table. Perfection! 😘 This is an infant area for a five-month-old. Low shelves, age-appropriate materials, engaging low... Read more →

The beauty of Lovevery Play Kits is that they contain stage-based play essentials. The idea is that through research we can present our child with the right toys at the right time. But... the Lovevery Play Kits don't only contain play essentials, they also contain practical life tools that are so useful and enriching that we use them every day! So just in case you were thinking Lovevery is all about toys, I want to prove you wrong and share some of the materials that aren't toys, that we use super frequently with my preschooler at 4yrs. Some of these... Read more →

Do your children like playing and exploring with a measuring tape? I recently introduced some measuring activities to my preschooler and found the activities that included a measuring tape were the most popular. Note that we used a children's measuring tape. Please check your measuring tape carefully before giving it to a child, at this age I would only provide a children's measuring tape or use a soft fabric style measuring tape. Metal measuring tapes can be sharp and can retract quickly and aren't suitable for young children. Our measuring tape is from The Lovevery Problem Solver Play Kit. Learning... Read more →

Do you bake often with your children? With my first child, I really had no idea how to bake with a child and I had to try really hard to make it happen. Now with my third child Otto (3yrs), we bake in some way almost every day. Sometimes he bakes alongside me on his kitchen helper at the kitchen counter. A couple of times a week I will also invite him to bake at his baking table. A baking table can be any low, child-size table. For a young child, we could use their weaning table. It just means... Read more →

Have you seen the new Lovevery Play Kits for Three Year Olds? We've had ours for a couple of weeks and we've been able to fully test everything out. So it's time to share. What do we think?? First I need to say that I work with Lovevery in an advisory role. I have seen first hand how their designers work and I know these are the very best toys for our children. Each Lovevery Play Kit is designed to support learning at home and is designed to complement a Montessori education, not duplicate what your child is doing at... Read more →

Learning happens in every area of our home. Perhaps most of the learning including language and maths happens in our kitchen or outside. We have a children's table on our back deck where we work when it's not windy, but we also have this little corner of shelves at the end of our lounge/living room. This is what I call my three-year-old's 'work area'. I want to share this space with you as compared to examples I've seen online, this is a very simple set-up. We don't have a playroom or a study and that's ok, we do the best... Read more →

Depending on the design of your home you may want to consider placing your infant's movement area in a shared family space. The movement area can consist of a moveable play gym, a soft rug or mat with some toys, or perhaps a wall mirror and Montessori style mobiles (visual & tactile). The benefit of having the movement area in a shared space is the child can observe and hear their family members going about their everyday lives. The child can move, play and rest at their leisure while still feeling that they are a part of the family, not... Read more →

We are seven days into a 14 day Covid isolation period (we can't leave our home, due to Otis being a close contact). So today I vacuumed and generally tidied Otto's (3yrs 9mths) room. It looked so pretty I thought it was time to take a few pics and share the new layout with you. The last time I shared his room, he had just moved into his 'big' bed. Our home is split over four levels. Otto's room is on the fourth (top) level, and his other work shelves, art shelves, and toys are on the first (bottom) level.... Read more →

Have you ever wished someone would come to your home and help put together your Montessori-style playroom? I was once talking to a Montessori teacher friend about how small our home space was and she took a look around and came up with so many options I hadn't thought of. It's amazing what a fresh set of eyes can see. When my friend Ceinwen showed me her children's workroom (pictured above), I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. Ceinwen and her family recently moved into a gorgeous Bondi apartment and they have this workroom just off the kitchen. It's an... Read more →

One of the things that sets Montessori apart from other early childhood approaches is precision. At Forest School the toddlers love pouring and scooping in the mud kitchen but the water slops around everywhere (which is a fantastic sensory experience). But in Montessori, we focus on refining the senses, fine motor skills, accuracy and precision. My toddler is fantastic with pouring a drink from a dispenser, tap or pitcher but I've noticed at our Montessori toddler class that he either doesn't understand how to use a funnel OR he is enjoying seeing the water overflow everywhere when using a funnel.... Read more →

In today's society, we are inundated with 'fast' toys. Fast toys are so prevalent in mass-market retailers it's easy to forget that we have other options. Fast toys are busy toys that are often cheaply made and of poor quality. They do a lot and may even hold the child's attention but for a short period of time. Slow toys are made from quality materials, may be handmade, they do very little but require the child to use their skills and imagination to use them and they are made to last. Tumi Ishi definitely fall into the slow toys category.... Read more →

Over the weekend we put a new arm-chair into Otto's room so I had to move things around to make it fit. I also put back in a little table and chair for Otto to work at. Otto is growing so fast I thought it was a good time to document this space. Want to see more of his room? This layout is similar to his room in the UK. Low shelves, wardrobe, bed, and a table. The idea is always the same, to create a child-centred space that is warm, comfortable, and cozy. A stool so that he can... Read more →

Two-piece part-whole perception puzzles can look simple but they can be difficult, they go to the core of what puzzles are about - matching pieces and forming a whole. Part-whole perception puzzles help the child to understand 'part' and 'whole' relationships, that two parts can come together to form a single shape or a single whole picture. They allow for hands-on discovery and exploration of shape, colour, form and spatial relationships. There is growing evidence that spatial skills exercised during puzzle play are foundational in supporting learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. "Through infant age, toddler age and in... Read more →

Lovevery's new play kits for two year olds are out today. Yes, the play kits now include children from 24 to 36 months check them out here. As a parent of a two year old I am beyond thrilled. They look fantastic! What do the play kits have in them? The Helper Play Kit - for months 25, 26, 27 Super Sustainable Sink With Bio-Based Cups and Plates (pictured above) Drop and Match Dot Catcher Felt Flowers in a Row Double Sided Sunny Day Puzzle Anywhere Art Kit with Washable Tempera Paintsticks Let's Map It Out Routine Cards Making Muffins... Read more →