Do your children have toys or materials in their bedrooms? I was recently told that Montessori bedrooms do not have toys in them so I thought I would explore this idea further. 🤔 In Montessori from the Start Polk Lillard and Lillard Jessen suggest that for an infant Montessori bedroom parents consider four main areas including areas for sleeping, changing, feeding, and for activity. Polk Lillard and Lillard Jensen go on to suggest parents create a bedroom that encourages concentration and that furthers self-formation "into complete human beings capable of independence, coordinated movement, language and will". For a child in... Read more →
Do you want to see some really beautiful Montessori spaces? Here are a few Montessori homes and classrooms that have caught my eye. These spaces are not attainable for me and for many others simply due to space restrictions. I find all of these spaces refreshing and insightful, I can see the love and attention to detail that has gone into each of these homes and classrooms. These are all spaces for young children, from infancy to around preschool age. This a peek into a Montessori early learning centre in Germany. It's interesting to see the range of materials here.... Read more →
It's almost been a year since I first shared our snack shelves so it feels like a good time to give an update. It makes sense to show you the children's fridge at the same time to see all the food the children have access to. Both of these areas are used by my three and nine-year-old. The food here is for snacks, morning and afternoon tea, and often we will use food from here to make lunch too. The snack shelves also contain cereal and the fridge has milk which the children will use for breakfast. These areas don't... Read more →
This year I want to bring you more relatable home tours, ideas for smaller spaces, and ideas that suit a wide range of budgets. Today I want to share some really practical and creative ideas for Montessori wardrobes. All of these ideas are low to no cost, many require the use of materials that are second hand or that are repurposed! This is a wonderful example! The wardrobe is height adjustable. The parents have some clothes up high for them to reach and will lower the branches when their child is old enough to dress themselves. "This is how I... Read more →
At the start of the New Year, the entryway feels like a good place to start with a refresh and a tidy-up! The entryway can be a key area in maintaining order and organisation of things like hats, coats and shoes, which otherwise might be a stressor. The entryway can be an important part of a smooth transition from the comfort of the home to the outside world. I've always found the more organised we are the smoother the transition. Children who are organised may feel calmer and more confident when leaving the home. I also want to acknowledge the... Read more →
When Otto turned three in September I knew we needed to make a few changes to his bedroom. We want the room to fit the child so we needed to size up with a few things. We swapped out: A small table and chair --> larger table and stool Low infant shelves --> higher shelves Small bookshelf --> greater capacity bookshelf The other significant change we made was to remove learning material like puzzles and only keep open-ended toys in this space. As Otto is now preschool age we've decided to keep most of his learning materials on his shelves... Read more →
Today I want to share six lovely, practical Montessori inspired bedrooms. There is no one right way to design a Montessori bedroom, our needs and likes are different, our families and homes are different. Let's take a closer look. This is such a big space and I love how the owners have been able to incorporate lots of different zones including zones for reading, dressing, sleeping and playing. I also love the use of natural earthy colours. There is lots of colour in this room but it still feels warm and soothing. This rooms just looks so cozy. The materials,... Read more →
When I observe my toddler's block play I see lots of stacking and lining things up, I see the first signs of bridging and making enclosures. He builds ramps and roads. At home he has access to many accessories and he usually chooses cars, or dinosaurs and today I suggested some road signs. Most of all I see he is building towers, cities and often a loose community structure. I love reading about block play and thinking of different ways to enhance the block play experience. I only recently discovered that there are different stages of block play based on... Read more →
Many of us are spending a lot of time at home right now. I know there is one thing that will keep my toddler very busy and learning at home every day of the week. That is art and creating! I've been reading and learning about children's art spaces in Montessori and also in Reggio environments. While this art area is uniquely ours I wanted to share it with you. This art space is on our back deck, it's an almost seamless indoor/outdoor environment. The deck is covered and is suitable for working in all year round. Our art environment:... Read more →
Over the weekend I gave Otto's toddler bedroom a little refresh. It reminded me how we are constantly changing and adapting the environment to suit the child. Here are a few Montessori bedrooms that I'm loving right now. A toddler bedroom from Buenos Aires. This just feels so bright and airy. The furniture design is lovely! This room inspired me to put a little table and chair back into Otto's room. This is from an eco-minded family. But this clean child-friendly design would also work well for Montessori families. Another reminder that (depending on your climate) a mattress on the... Read more →
We love to use our Ikea Flisat children's table as a sensory table or as a simple sand and water table. But the mess can be too much for indoors. We have put the table outside on our deck but sand still travels everywhere and the area around the table always needs sweeping. When we lived in the UK we would often use our Ikea Flisat table for sand and water outside. When it rained I would bring it inside or put it under our door table setting. It held up for over a year. But eventually it got a... Read more →
Our entryway is lacking, so I thought it might be a good time to revisit the subject. These are all recent entryways from real Montessori families. Lots of commonalities but all very different homes! This takes up a bit of space, but has almost everything the child would need including a mirror. A space for sunglasses, tissues and a hair brush is a good idea. Here they are using the clear Command style hooks. Mirror, basket and lots of hooks! These look similar to Command hooks too which are good for this purpose as they are removable and in a... Read more →
Today I want to share some fantastic Montessori bedrooms. All of these have low beds and most have low toys and books. We can see that the child, not the adult, is at the centre of the design process. Perhaps this is what makes Montessori bedrooms different to other mainstream bedrooms. I want to note that the floor bed is not everything, many Montessori families use other options like co-sleeping, low toddler beds and even cribs. If you are using a crib I hope you still find some of the ideas found in these room useful. The reason I want... Read more →
Do you have a lot of children's books in your home? I assume you do. The problem for many families is we have a lot of books but want to rotate or only keep out a small amount for our toddlers. Older children can manage more books but we want toddlers and young children to be able to select their own books from the book shelf and then later put them away. This means we need book shelves that are low, accessible to the young child, preferably with forward facing book display and limited in size. Here is how we... Read more →
Otto (2.5 yrs) has finally mastered self dressing! It helps that our weather is mild and he usually only wears a loose t-shirt and pants. Dressing has been a huge point of frustration for us so I want to share how we have got to this point. Why do we want a toddler to dress themselves? Out of respect for the child. To support the child's independence and developing autonomy. To help develop the child's sense of self and to develop self esteem. To teach practical life skills including fine motor skills. Because they can, they are capable if we... Read more →