8 ways to make your home Montessori friendly today!
Feb 1, 2021 - Montessori Home - By Carine Robin
Recently, I have joined a collaboration on Instagram about how to "make do" Montessori on a budget or even without spending money.
Nowadays, Montessori at home is often associated with wooden toys and expensive furniture. It doesn't have to be that way!
Montessori is above all a philosophy, a set of principles and a way to observe your child to better fulfill their natural development.
I talk about this a lot on this blog and in my e-courses.
In today's blog post, I want to share with you how to make your house more Montessori in one day without spending money!
You can also watch the video as I show you how I make my house suitable for little children once more. My own children are older and don't require many specific child-friendly space or what you would consider a Montessori play space.
So it was fun for me to go through my house and showing you what I would do if I was discovering Montessori for the first time.
Side note: I say without spending money but I do suggest to use some command hooks that you may have to buy.
By the way, if you visit my YouTube channel, please subscribe, like the video and leave a comment! Help me to reach more families.
1. Command hooks
Command hooks are a cheap, and temporary solution to set up a coat area at your child's level or you can use them to hang a broom/towel or whatever you child needs at your child's level.
Command hooks are the perfect solution if you rent your house. Also, your house will evolve as your child grows so command hooks are a great temporary solution.
In my experience, the brand Command hook works better. When you remove them, it does take away a bit of paint. They work best on wood or furniture. I have one inside my son's wardrobe that is still up after a few years.
2. Masking tape
Masking tape is perfect to delimitate a spot to place shoes or to hang a picture on the wall.
Instead of taking weeks to hang the perfect child-safe frame at your child's level, just use masking tape to hang a printed picture.
Delimit an area on the floor for your child's shoes or to show where to park the scooter.
Again, masking tape is ideal in a rental or if you go on holidays.
3. Use any surface as a shelf
A coffee table, the lower shelf of your bookshelf or even some mats on the floor are some perfectly acceptable options! You don't need to a buy a Montessori shelf!
I will never stress enough that you don't need to purchase specific furniture to start Montessori at home. At some point, you may want to redesign or to invest in some specific shelves. If you want to start today, just use what you have already:
- free the bottom shelves of your bookshelf
- use the coffee table
- if you don't have any furniture available, place a rug in one corner of your living room and set up a few activities accessible to your child.
- I love to use some Ikea round placemats in my playgroup
4. Use the space you have:
Free a drawer or a cupboard in your kitchen for your child's belongings. You don't need to buy or hack an Ikean child's kitchen today!
You don't need to do the Ikea kitchen hack today or to make a child-size vanity table to allow your child more independence. Free a drawer or a lower cupboard in your kitchen.
Have a basket with your child's toilet accessories in the bathroom. Do whatever you can today to help your child to participate in your daily life.
5. Add art and plants:
You may know that Montessori encourages us to expose our children to appreciate beauty. Give a plant to your child to take care of. Pick some flowers in the garden and show your child how to arrange them.
Hang art at your child's level. It's OK to print a picture to start with and to use masking tape!
Print a picture and stick to the wall with masking tape. It is as simple as that!
Allow your child to water one of your house plant. Or pick some flowers and show how make a bouquet.
6. Anything can be a tray
The point of the tray or basket is to show the toys/activities and to allow your child to carry them to his work space. You can use shoe lids, take away containers, cheap baskets and second hand tray. They don't have to be perfect!
This is a very common question in my FB group "Where can I buy some nice wooden trays?". The point of the tray or basket is to show toys or activities. Seeing them will allow your child to select one and the tray/basket will allow him to carry it to his play area.
The tray in itself doesn't matter. You can use shoe lids, take-away containers, cheap baskets and second hand trays. Don't stop yourself to introduce some activities until you have found the perfect tray!
7. Less toys
If you have some sets of toys such as a train set or blocks, remove half of them then cut in half again. You know have an amount of toys that your child can handle without being overwhelmed.
While decluttering and sorting the toys might take more than one day, you can already make sure you set up only a few activities to choose from.
When it comes to sets of toys, such as blocks or train set, reduce the quantity. My rule is to divide the quantity in two and two again to only offer a manageable amount.
For a train set, for a toddler or young child, I start by giving the number of pieces for a circle or 8 circuit which are around 10-12 train tracks with one locomotive and 2 or 3 wagons.
8. More reality, less fantasy
Swap the heavy fantasy-based books for more reality-based ones. Borrow books from your local libraries or find them in a charity shop.
If until now, the majority of the books you have had "speaking animals" and fantasy-based characters, swap them for some more realistic books such as books with human characters, nature books, books with fictional but realistic stories... Make use of your local libraries.
I hope this post was useful to you, let me know in a comment!
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About the Author: Carine Robin is a qualified and experienced Montessori teacher and founder of The Montessori Family. With over 15 years of experience, Carine offers a blend of professional insight and personal understanding as a mother of two and qualified child psychologist. Inspired by the success of her Montessori subscription box, she created The Montessori Family to provide a comprehensive resource for parents and teachers globally. This platform aims to support child growth and well-being through curated educational activities. Additionally, Carine maintains the UK's most popular Montessori blog and administers the largest Montessori UK Facebook group, making her a central figure in the Montessori community.
