Have you watched the Netflix series Old Enough? What are your thoughts? If you haven't seen it, Old Enough is a reality show from Japan that captures children as young as two (yes toddlers!) doing their first errand. The children are filmed running errands independently, like delivering or collecting dry cleaning, shopping at the fish market or walking home and making juice. Often the children are walking kilometres; some of this takes place in rural areas, but there are some errands set in city streets; some children independently cross busy roads and catch public buses; most children do it alone,... Read more →

It's NOT the Stork! / Amazing you! / Only for me At around four years old, my children start asking questions about babies and where they come from and have questions about body parts. Four years of age is also the time we discuss nudity and privacy with our children. It's when we teach them about keeping their clothes on and keeping their private parts for them. One of the easiest things we can do for our children from birth is to call our body parts by the correct name. Yes, let's normalise penis, testicles, scrotum, uterus, vagina and labia.... Read more →

A few friends have asked about the Doddl cutlery range (UK here) (AU here). Without seeing it in person or using it, I couldn't form a firm opinion or recommendation. The Doddl set is recommended for children 1-5yrs, so I decided to test it with my four-year-old. 🍽 Doddl cutlery is recommended by feeding and development experts, but how does it rate from a Montessori perspective? When you pick up the cutlery, you can feel how it is designed for little hands. The plastic (BPA and Phthalates free) handles are chunky and easy to grip. I suggest the fork and... Read more →

This is the first in a new series about mindfulness with kids. I want to share some practical, easy and fun ways to bring little pockets of quiet, calm and focus into your life and the lives of your children. Today we are starting with children's yoga. Yoga is one of my favourite mindfulness activities. I've attended yoga classes throughout my life, in all different life stages it's been there for me. My three children are very active with sport so they enjoy the physical aspect of yoga. It's a way for them to physically slow down and listen to... Read more →

This week Sydney experienced a flood emergency. Families are displaced, rained in or have simply spent the week indoors to stay dry. So I've tried to post the easiest, the most engaging activity I could think of that would appeal to a wide range of children. It's also Plastic Free July so I've tried to set this activity up without using plastics. All of the materials for this activity I've found around our home. Above Otto (4yrs) is using our plastic-free Playdough Station. I created it as a surprise, knowing that he would love it even more if it was... Read more →

"Some objects are rapidly mass-produced by press or machine and are exactly alike. Others are made slowly by hand, and each is different from the other. The value of handmade objects is that each carries the individual imprint of the artist who created it." - Maria Montessori, The Child in the Family. Today is Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. ❄️ Making candles is a lovely way to celebrate Winter Solstice and it's also a fantastic warming, practical life activity. Part of this practical life activity is simply learning the process of how to make candles. We melt the wax,... Read more →

Did you know that Ashley from Hapa Family has released a new book? The Montessori Home: Create a Space for Your Child to Thrive (AU here)(UK here)(World Wide) was released last month. I couldn't wait to get my hands on it and I wasn't disappointed! There are a lot of Montessori books around but Ashely has written a book about what I feel was missing. That is the parent's point of view of Montessori in the home. Although Ashley is a certified Montessori guide (0-3) this is written from a parent's perspective, and it's a welcome change. The communication really... Read more →

a. / b. / c. (AU) / d. / e. / f. (AU here) A year or so ago I received a text from a friend, asking for a recommendation for a children's weekly calendar. I gave some general DIY suggestions as at that time all of our days kind of looked the same, we had no need for a weekly calendar. But now Otto (4yrs) asks repeatedly what day is swimming, what day is playgroup, what day is judo. It starts to drive me crazy and I found we absolutely had a need for a weekly calendar or a... Read more →

There are two trains of thought when it comes to children's knives. There are those that are happy for their children to use 'child safe' knives. These are knives like the Rikon Kuhn KinderKitchen and KiddiKutter (AU), that can be used from a young age as they are blunt, they are not sharp enough to cut a child's hand. There are others that prefer their child to use a 'real' (sharp, but with a round tip) knife as soon as practicable. In all of the Montessori toddler classes I've attended, the children use real knives under close supervision. The benefit... Read more →

Wednesday 2nd February 2022 is World Read Aloud Day!! The purpose of World Read Aloud Day is to celebrate the power of reading aloud. I love reading aloud to my children but often I worry if I should be doing it more, if they are really listening, if I'm choosing the right books and perhaps if I could be doing a better job at it. I've been reading a ton about reading aloud and here are some of the best tips and quotes I've found that have put my mind at ease. "Reading out loud is probably the least expensive... Read more →

1. / 2. / 3. / 4. (UK here)(AU here)(CA here) / 5. / 6. / 7. / 8. / 9. Does your child have their own calendar? At the start of the new year, I wanted to begin using a monthly calendar with my four-year-old. The thing is... he wasn't at all interested. Many calendars are overwhelming for young children. I decided to focus on what he is interested in and what is currently working. We are currently using a Day Calendar and Weather Board. These boards focus on the present day and allow children to make observations like... Read more →

I've only recently discovered Alice Zaslavsky's children's food book Alice’s Food A to Z. It was the first cookbook to be given a Notable Book award by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. That says something! Alice is a former School Teacher, MasterChef contestant (2012), culinary correspondent on ABC News Breakfast, author of In Praise of Veg and soon to be food columnist in The Weekend Australian Magazine (replacing David Herbert). "This book is about encouraging kids to dip into the world of food and splash around to see what they can find. It aims to pique their curiosity enough... Read more →

This term we decided not to return to our Forest School class. Instead, we are trying a little of our own Beach School. One or two (or three) mornings a week we make our way to the beach to explore, have fun and learn a little. The beach provides an ideal learning environment for children who can learn in-situ, hands-on and be able to run and jump and generally make as much noise as they like. It makes sense to choose one or two regular spots to visit each week so the children can observe the changes in the environment... Read more →

We've used modelling beeswax many times before but we've always used Stockmar Modeling Beeswax. Stockmar Modeling Beeswax can be expensive and I wanted to try a natural alternative. I decided to try some homemade Modeling Beeswax. Working with Modeling Beeswax is a good activity to develop muscles in the fingers and hands. It can be calming and the children can work on their sculpting skills. Modeling Beeswax is firm and can be warmed by the child's hands which may help to develop perseverance and patience. When cooled it retains its shape so the sculptures can be used on a nature... Read more →

My preschooler recently transitioned from mostly using the Kuhn Rikon Kinderkitchen Knife to mostly using the 'big kids knife', the Opinel Le Petit Chef Knife (AU here). The Opinel knife is much sharper than the Kuhn Rikon knife so we needed to go over our safety rules. Our knife safety rules include: Sharp knives are stored out of reach of young children. We keep our Opinel knife with our adult knives, our child has to ask to use it. Children only use knives under 100% adult supervision. There is no walking off or turning away. We encourage children to hold... Read more →