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 →

I've been getting a lot of questions about the moon lately. Perhaps it's because we've just come out of winter, and the nights have been long, perhaps it is all the excitement over the launch of NASA's Artemis I moon rocket. 🌙🚀 Young children learn best through real hands-on experiences, and this can be difficult when learning about the moon at school. It's a great idea to explore the moon at home where can go outside and see the moon at night. To encourage my children to closely observe the moon, we've been using a moon journal. The journal encourages... Read more →

Do you have an interest in early childhood literacy or just love good children's books? As an aspiring children's librarian, I'm always looking for new and relevant children's books. As a parent, I'm looking for ways to engage my children with books and ways to extend the learning from those books through art. I've seen book subscriptions before, especially for babies and toddlers, but none have been like the BookieBundle Subscription (AU). This is our first subscription box and.. wow, I loved it. There is so much more to the subscription box than you initially see. It's not just for... 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 →

Have you thought about putting up a Street Library or a Little Free Library? We've had our Street Library in since October 2020. Being a Street Librarian has been rewarding and I encourage you to consider it. Studies have shown the more books in a child’s home, the better their educational outcome. I hope the same can be applied to books in the neighbourhood, perhaps Street Libraries can influence neighbourhood educational outcomes? There are social reasons to install a Street Library too. Neighbours and passersby will often stop and chat while visiting the Library, some will sit and read at... Read more →

When I wrote the article The Best Libraries in Sydney for Children, I knew there were a couple of libraries missing that I was yet to visit. The Woollahra Library in Double Bay was one of them. This is a large library with an amazing children's section and it has to be the greenest library in Sydney. 🪴📚❤️ Above are stairs that double as seating with green leaves cascading down. This green wall includes the return chutes!! 💚 Many libraries lack natural light. This library has lots of natural light but must also use grow lights or similar to support... Read more →

I've been searching for a second-hand overhead projector on Gumtree (AU) for months. I'm still hopeful that I will find one, but this searching often leads me to find other good things on Gumtree. Over the weekend I picked up this bike (below) for $50 including the child seat and bike lock (it needs a new chain), and the Montessori Dino Cards for $10. Where do you look for good Montessori second-hand finds, FB marketplace, Gumtree, FreeCycle? The key to getting a bargain on Gumtree is finding items that you need and that are located close to you. Here are... Read more →

Do you have a really fantastic indoor play centre near you? Most of the play centres I've been to have large slides and ball pits. The Play Studio recently opened near us and it's a completely new concept. It's a truly wonderful space with great staff, ideal for playdates, somewhere to go on a rainy day or just somewhere interesting and educational to visit with your child. The Play Studio is a Montessori, Reggio and Steiner inspired play space. Some of the sessions commence with a teacher-guided process like an art activity or songs, in other play sessions, the children... 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 →

We know that Montessori materials can be expensive. If your child is learning to read or write you may be looking for an affordable option for a Movable Alphabet. Our wooden Movable Alphabet cost around $70+AUD plus postage. The cheapest option for a Movable Alphabet would be to cut letters out of cardboard. Another affordable option is to find wooden craft letters and paint them. Although here in Australia, I've only found wooden craft letters in Capital/Upper Case letters. It is important in this early stage of learning that our children are using lower case letters. There are also Movable... Read more →

What are the best libraries in Sydney for children? Sydney has amazing libraries, we have so much choice. Today I want to share with you my local library and three other libraries with outstanding children's areas. I live in the Eastern suburbs and all of these libraries are within a 25 minutes drive. Our most visited, local library is the Margaret Martin Library. It is not our closest library but it is the most convenient for us, and convenience is important for a library! The Margaret Martin Library is located on Level 1 of the Royal Randwick Shopping Centre. The... 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 →

Here in Australia, it's National Frog ID week! 🐸 During this week citizens are encouraged to record frog calls using the FrogID app, as a measurement of frog health and distribution around the nation. It aims to monitor frog distributions over time, helping us to understand how frogs and their ecosystems are responding to a changing planet. Participating in National Frog ID week is a great way to teach Environmental Stewardship. We started by downloading the FrogID app and taking a walk to our local nature reserve. Unfortunately, we did not hear any frogs but we were able to read... Read more →