Do your children like to use real tools, connect things, screw and unscrew things or join things together? If so they might enjoy using a Montessori Screw/Bolt board. I introduced this board (pictured above) to my child at 2yrs (34-35months) and he still loves it today at 4 years old. We have a simple board with a screwdriver, t-nuts and screws which are all the same size. Other boards are available that have graded bolts, that use spanners or hex keys. While the bolt/screw board is not a traditional Montessori practical life material they allow the child to develop the... Read more →

Would you like to hear about a new range of furniture designed by British architects and handcrafted from Japanese cypress? Aromon has just launched beautiful children's shelves, tables and chairs, and I think you'll love them. I have a discount code for you, at the end of this post. "Inspired by the Montessori education method, our furniture and bespoke spaces provide a healthy, safe environment to encourage exploration and independent play whilst stimulating the senses." - Aromon. The design of Aromon furniture is unique and so is the wood that they use. Aromon products are made from sustainably sourced Japanese... Read more →

Have you tried any new or different practical life activities recently? While there are activities that become favourites and the children love to do, we also like to introduce new activities depending on the season or what the rest of the family is engaged with. Occasionally I will try things that my child has struggled with previously to see if they are ready for it. I've tried garlic crushing many times with my three-year-old but he didn't have the strength to use the garlic crusher. This week we tried a new rocking garlic crusher, and while it was still difficult... Read more →

I've previously written about all the good reasons to use crayons before markers. As Otto gets closer to four I've been paying special attention to his pencil grip and drawings. Recently he has been using markers almost exclusively and a solid cylindrical grasp. Markers are easy for the child to use, the child doesn't need to apply much pressure and the marker glides over the paper. They are an easy and colourful way to draw. Crayons require much more effort. So I decided it was time to put away the markers for a while. Stages of Early Mark Making image... Read more →

Sorting: 2 legs / 4 legs / 8 legs Have you tried any sorting and classifying activities with your child? Some of these activities could work from around 2.5 years however we've used these with our child at three years. Before doing each activity we need to make sure the child has a good understanding of the topic. Here Otto (3yrs) is sorting animals by how many legs they have. I have written the numbers on the sorting mat and he is only sorting animals with two, four and eight legs. For a younger child, we could sort animals with... 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 →

Today I want to share some meaningful and purposeful transferring activities using mini tongs and ice trays. Transferring with mini tongs is fantastic for developing fine motor skills, coordination and concentration. Transferring herbs. If you have any leftover or excess herbs you can chop them up and freeze them in olive oil. There is a lot of transferring work here. The child uses mini tongs to transfer the herbs to the ice tray. The child also makes sure the compartments have an equal amount of herbs in them. Then we fill the ice tray with olive oil and freeze. Later... Read more →

When we think of gardening with children our mind often goes straight to planting in an outdoor veggie patch. But if we don't have an outdoor garden space or if the weather isn't favourable, there are still lots of wonderful indoor gardening options for children to enjoy. Recently we've been growing Microgreens. Microgreens are the young seedlings of edible plants (we are growing basil, chives, and parsley) that are harvested shortly after germination when the stem, seedling leaves, and first set of true leaves have grown. Microgreens are a great option for homes and classrooms ❤️🌱. The benefits of growing... Read more →

I recently found Otto (3yrs) taking tissues out of the tissue box and folding them. Perhaps he had observed me at some point taking a tissue out, folding it, and putting it in my pocket. It was a great reminder to get out and use our Montessori Folding Cloths. Montessori Folding Cloths are available on Etsy but are also easy to DIY, we can sew the lines, or draw them. Otto has also been learning about halves and quarters, recently he spontaneously cut play-dough balls into halves and then quarters, so the timing is just perfect. We started with the... Read more →

I recently attended an online workshop to assist parents during the pandemic and especially during periods of lockdown. The workshop was very useful. Some of the tips that really made sense to me were to: Maintain the magic in the everyday. Maintain or establish a daily and weekly rhythm. Make weekends look and feel different from the weekdays. Think about service and how we can serve our community. It was also suggested that puzzles might be a fun family activity. Puzzles can be reassuring, they offer certainty in uncertain times. Each piece of the puzzle fits perfectly, all the pieces... Read more →

My three-year-old loves listening to a story but at times he struggles to sit still. I often put together little story baskets for him so that he can play while I'm reading and still be engaged in the story, or when he reads to himself he can extend his learning or continue with the story afterwards. The materials in our story baskets aren't specifically for the child to recreate or retell the story but rather in their own way, further explore the topics and themes. Above we put a child's stethoscope in the basket along with the book Hear Your... Read more →

Are you looking for some new activities to try at home using what you already have? Colour mixing activities can often be altered to suit children of various ages and many of these activities use household items. To create colours in our colour mixing activities we use: liquid watercolour paints food colouring colour bath tablets I find it nice to use white trays as they provide a neutral background. I've used these activities with my three-year-old so I've started with primary colours only. While he knows a whole range of colours, it's good to give the child a really good... 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 →

I recently discovered two fantastic science experiment books for children 3-5 years. I hadn't seen science experiment books for preschoolers before. I was so surprised. The experiments are easy to follow, some of the experiments are familiar and some are new. We've also had a lot of success with the experiments so I really wanted to share. Our most used science experiment book for 3-5 years is Big Chemistry Experiments for Little Kids, we've done almost all of the experiments. I also really like Big Engineering Experiments for Little Kids in the same series. The books are super easy to... Read more →

Today I want to share some skills that children can learn in the kitchen. Some of these are simple like mashing that children can begin at around 18 months, and some are more complex like grating which we would try at around 3 years+. These are fantastic practical life skills to have, they also help the child to develop confidence, concentration, fine motor skills, and coordination. Many of these skills require hand and arm strength and require the hands to work together in a coordinated way. There isn't a need to rush to teach our children these skills, hopefully, they... Read more →