Montessori Environment 1-2 years

Confused about which activities to work on with your toddler? Dailymontessori.com has some great resources to help you choose activities that are appropriate and are in your child's "sweet spot" of learning! Here is a little bit from their 12-24 month section. You can check out the information directly by going here!


Montessori Environment 1-2 years

"At this point children are able to grasp things and their eye hand coordination develops more. Give your child one or two piece wooden puzzles. Do not give them things that are too difficult, give them things that they can accomplish with a bit of trying/effort. Give them as wells rings of different sizes that need to be placed on a rocking base according to size.

Wooden blocks are always good. At first they will just enjoy watching you build them and knocking them down. It will be a bit later that they will be stacking them up higher and higher. The blocks need to be just cubes but other shapes as well to allow for creativity.

Give your child a crayon and paper. Have a small tray in which the child can contain their paper in and a small cup with a big crayon or block crayon for easy handling. This will also make the clean up easier if they draw out of the paper. Have the background of the tray in a dark color so they can see the contrast from the paper. As a progression you can give other mediums such as thick toxic free markers, and colored pencils. Show how to properly grip pens and focus drawing only on paper.

Drop boxes using balls or various shapes as it practices their grasp and intentional release to put things in. Have a dowel with a stable base and have things around the house that are rings, such as bangles and napkin rings for variety.

A child at this stage loves inserting things into things. The best for them would be a real key with a lock that is relevant in a room. Cabinet locks and others. This will also motivate the child to be able to stand up with support/leaning on the cabinet to reach the lock. One will always be surprised at the determination a child will show to be able to get this activity right.

As your child becomes more adept with using their hands give the child a basket or box of things that can be opened and closed. This can be small zip bag, a container with studs, Velcro and snaps. As an added challenge when the child gets older add small screw tops bottles from old discarded plastic bottles/containers."

Montessori 3 Period Lesson

"Maria Montessori had a method to teach vocabulary to children; she called it The 3 period lesson. This is best done with real objects, for example have 3 types of fruit in season, vegetables, clothing or utensils. Other can be realistic objects (miniatures of animals) that can be found in any toy shop. Have a mat on the floor to lay out he objects on, or sit with the child at their table. One may put these objects on a tray or basket for easy handling.

Fist period is the introduction of the object. Show the object to the child and say” This is a (name of the object)”. Then lay it on the mat or let the child touch and hold it, even smell it if possible, then repeat the name of the object. Repeat the process with the other objects. By allowing the child to feel and smell the object it makes a more concrete memory for them.

Second period is to ask the child to point to the object that you have named. “Can you point to me the (name of the object)?” Then move the object to another place so you know the child remembers the name and not the placement of the object. This period makes the lesson more alive and interesting. You may also ask the child to move the objects to different spots on the mat.

This stage can be extended for under 3’s by asking the children to place the object that you have named ( another way of identifying if they know the name of the object) to a different area of the mat, or removing or putting it in the basket, or handing it to you. You can incorporate vocabulary words for placement such as ‘first’, ‘in front’, ‘behind’, ‘at the back’, etc.

Third period is to ask the child to name the object as you point to it. This is mostly done with older children who can fluently talk.

The number of items may be increased depending on the challenge your child needs."