| I’m all about sharing what I love with you, and so this week I wanted to share how I set up toys and encourage play with my kids! Montessori style teaches children to be self sufficient and encourages independence (within limits) in a prepared environment. When implementing this into a child’s play space, the goal is to keep things aesthetically pleasing, orderly, and minimalistic! Yes, I know it’s hard to believe, but these crazy little people of ours actually CRAVE order. |
1. Make 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 to your little people. This shelf should be attractive enough for your child to want to engage with but also 𝐅𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋. Don’t put things up high so they can’t reach. A rule of thumb: if they can’t see it… they won’t play with it ((𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴))
2. 𝟏-𝟐 𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐟—that’s it! Kids are overwhelmed and can be overstimulated with too many toys.
3. 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭… this way your child can easily view and choose.
4. 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐬 (𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴) within the shelves… this way your little one can independently grab an activity and bring it out to play themselves.
5. 𝐑𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐲𝐬 as needed. There are no set rules to how often you need to rotate toys—follow your child’s cues. If you find they are getting bored… replace it and store the toy away (and out of sight) for another time. (𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳).
