In this post I will show you how I set up a Montessori style Toy area.
Firstly, what is Montessori?
Montessori is a scientifically based education approach that emphasises independence, freedom within limits, and respect for a child's natural psychological, physical, and social development. It was developed by Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori.
I have this space in my living room dedicated to books and learning toys...this is how I organise it.
Similar shelves
FIRST STEP
On the bottom shelf I have organised boxes filled with 'learning toys' and sets. For example, one box has puzzles, another has aqua mats and I have playdoh and tools for playdoh in anothe boxr. Here are some of my favourite learning/creative toys for the kids. You can honestly do so much with playdoh and puzzles.
SECOND STEP
The middle shelf are for all of our books. The kids do have a few books in their bedrooms, for bedtime reading. Honestly though, we do most of our reading in the living room so it only makes sense for them to be in this room whilst they are little. To make it aesthetically pleasing I have organised them into rainbow colour.
However, don't be fooled, this technique is not only for looking good...my kids can't quite read yet, so alphabetical order doesn't make sense for them. Organising in colour, means they can find the book they want by colour..AND put it back themselves...neatly. Genius...and all part of Montessori do it yourself method.
THIRD STEP
On the top shelf I have the larger toys that I like on display. Having them out on show means they actually get used more. One section is for more musical toys, another is more 'banging' and 'tools' toys, we have counting toys and push toys. All aiding in the learning and development of small children. I also like to switch these out every so often so they don't get bored of them and continuously find this area exciting.
Here are some examples of the toys I display.
FOURTH STEP
I have then made a section for the kids printed play area...which gets used a lot.
For us, this is behind a chair, so it is kind of hidden.
This allows the kids to play to there hearts content, get the area messy, and I do not get stressed out due to mess. Side note - this area gets tidied every evening before bed, by both me and the children (I always encourage my children to tidy their mess)...however, during the day I just let it get messy as it is a hidden area. This saves me tidying up 10 times a day.
In this area we have all their kitchen needs, along with the baby cot and cleaning toys. This makes for great pretend play. I would love to include a play shop in this area too.
You can also go a step further and make this a fully functioning kitchen for little ones, running water, crockery and utensils, a mini fridge and so on...but that is for another post!
I hope you found something helpful in this post!
Happy playing!
I try to post every Friday over here on the blog, so be sure to check back next week!
Chaos and Clarity!