We've been playing with a new wooden marble run (AU here). It's a fantastic marble run that is recommended for children 36months+. As soon as we unpacked it I was taken back by the play guide. It is way too advanced for my child and too advanced for most children under the age of 7-10yrs. It made me think about how with play, we often set our children up for failure. This play guide is not developmentally appropriate for my child. Although it shows young children in the photographs. If we as adults build the marble run as shown in... Read more →

I recently noticed an activity on Itty Bitty Love (Anne, a Montessori teacher's blog) where her students clicked Carabiners together to make a chain as an activity to develop fine motor skills. I thought it was a fabulous idea and most of all, I knew my three-year-old would love it. Carabiners are simple snap hooks that you can find at camping, hiking, sports, local hardware stores or perhaps even in your garage. Ours are coloured but you can also find them inexpensively in plain colours too. They also come in different sizes. I presented Otto (43 months) with three different... Read more →

Our family loves to read poetry. We read all kinds of poetry. I like to have at least one poetry basket out for my three-year-old. We also have poetry books, we like to perform or recite poetry on our family fun nights and occasionally we will write poetry. The theme for our next Friday Family Fun Night is Michael Rosen, my children love his writing. You will know Michael Rosen from We're Going on a Bear Hunt. He has also written books for older children and for adults. Our favourite Michael Rosen poetry book is A Great Big Cuddle: Poems... 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 this little work area for Otto (2 years 11 months). As he turns three next month this area will soon start changing as I make it more suitable for a preschooler. This is how it looks today. Most of the materials here are Montessori aligned. You've seen many of them before but here are a few new trays/activities close up. Musical Instrument Tray - Alto Saxophone - This is an idea from our Montessori toddler class that I couldn't resist making at home. I've used a language card, model saxophone, a photograph image of a... Read more →

What is cognitive development in early childhood? "Cognitive development means how children think, explore and figure things out. It is the development of knowledge, skills, problem solving and dispositions, which help children to think about and understand the world around them. Brain development is part of cognitive development." - Help Me Grow Cognitive development encompasses a child's working memory, attention, as well as a child's ability to manage and respond to the experiences and information they experience on a daily basis. Cognitive development activities include problem solving, cause-effect relations, part-whole relations, naming and classifying, sorting, organising - making sense of... Read more →

There are some brands that you can just trust. There are brands that I feel very well aligned with and these are the ones I seek out over and over. When I opened our first Lovevery box I loved everything inside it. When I looked closely I could see that their stage-based approach was spot on and it closely mimicked what I had done with my children, from cute black and white cards, small rattles, to interlocking discs and play socks. It was everything I was looking for. I've been sharing my experience with Lovevery for a while but recently... Read more →

Our family has been through a huge transition. With Christmas, traveling and moving back to Australia my older children have just started going back to school. When we go through transitions or difficult times I always seek out opportunities for my children to concentrate. I find concentration grounding and calming. It's like finding some stillness and quiet in the chaos. Also, it's something that you can't force, you can't make a toddler concentrate, but you can allow for it and provide opportunities for it. When travelling we continue to seek out opportunities for our toddler (2 years) to participate in... Read more →

If you have more than one child creating a safe and enticing art area can be difficult. While I have three children only my eight and two year old use this area. Previously I've set up this area just for my toddler and I had six or so activities on trays. Now we have a combination of loose materials and a few trays out. This area is in our playroom and often my toddler is here being supervised by my (super relaxed) husband and sometimes by my twelve-year-old son. So for safety and to reduce scribbling on walls, I have... Read more →

Blocks are fantastic open ended materials. They are investment pieces that can last a lifetime. Many blocks will appeal to a wide range of children starting from toddlerhood. Our block corner is one of the most popular areas of our home, especially during play dates. Today I'm sharing the blocks that we are currently using. The larger blocks are kept in our block corner but some of the smaller sets are in baskets on shelves in our play area or in our children's bedrooms. 1. Grimm's Coloured Rainbow Geo-Blocks Classic Wooden Set - 30 pieces. This is one of my... Read more →

Today we made some delicious Carrot and Zucchini Mini Muffins. I took a few pictures I thought I would share. In the UK, and perhaps other parts of the world, Zucchinis are known as Courgettes! Above are Otto's little baking shelves. He can access this himself. Mixing bowls, trays, cooling rack. On the bottom shelf there is his watering can, small spray bottle for cleaning and a little bucket with toddler sized cleaning cloths. On the hook there is a chopping board and this is also where his apron often hangs. His utensils like spoons, mashers, whisk are in the... Read more →

When I found out that Lovevery made Toddler Play Kits I almost flipped out. Like a crazy person, I went through all their play kits to see what amazing products they had to offer. When our first Toddler Play Kit arrived: The Realist (for 19, 20, 21 months) I was so impressed. The products are not only perfect for this age group they are of fantastic quality. Our Toddler Play Kit, The Realist is c/o Lovevery. Lovevery is absolutely my favourite and preferred Montessori subscription service for babies and toddlers. Each and every product is designed and made by Lovevery.... Read more →

Do you have art materials freely accessible to your toddler/s? I have found it's helpful, it means the art materials get used more and there is no need for the child to continually ask for permission. We have an art easel, large chalkboard and often paints outside, but what about inside? We definitely want less messy art inside. Here is how we make it work. Art materials are stored on trays on low toddler shelves. We keep a toddler size table near the art shelves. Otto is still learning to use the trays so it's easier if the table is... Read more →

A month or so ago we moved Otto (17 months) into Otis' old room. Otis (7yrs) doesn't like sleeping alone and I always found it difficult at bedtime if I was busy with Otto. So now Caspar (11yrs) and Otis are sharing a room. Otto's new room is much larger. We haven't made many changes. Most of the furniture is the same. Above we've created a little reading nook. Previously Otis had his fossils and rocks/minerals on the wall unit but now we have some Schleich animals. We might even change it over to some of Otto's favourite Siku vehicles.... Read more →

"Toys should be kept in the area where the family lives, not only in the child's room. Shelves are much more satisfying than toy boxes. Having order in the environment creates a feeling of security in the child, and trust in the environment. Baskets, trays, or small boxes neatly arranged on low shelves can be very helpful in creating this order." "If you watch a child you will see which toys he plays with most and which ones just get dropped and forgotten. Try to keep only as many toys available to the child as can be kept neat, and... Read more →