Montessori house: setting up a Montessori friendly hallway

In order to support your child’s autonomy, it is primordial to make your house as child-friendly as possible.

I offer you a series of blog posts and videos to help you to make your house Montessori-friendly.

I have a previous blog post about the bathroom so check that one too.

I’m going to start with the hallway. 

This room is where we gather to come in and out of the house.

It is often a tiny space where some much belongings need to be stored.

It is where your child is going to practise putting on his coat and shoes. 

It needs to work for the whole family.

So what do you need?

Watch the video below and read my tips

First, have a look at your space and ask yourself the following questions:

• do you have a dedicated hallway? Is it small or do you have lots of space?
• if you don’t have a dedicated space, where do you store the shoes and coats right now?
• are you able to make some changes to your space? 
• what is your budget to make the hallway child-friendly?
• is the space used by everyone in the family?
• does the space need to store everyone belongings or do you have other storage space available?
• is your hallway a dumping ground for everything else?

Now, observe how your child uses the space:

• can your child sit down in the hallway to put on his shoes?
• can your children reach their belongings?
• is your child able to put on his coat by himself?
• do your children know where to put back their coats, shoes and accessories?

In my opinion, every hallway will need:

• a bench, a chair or a space to sit on. In our hallway, the children’s shoe storage is where my children sit on.
• low hook to hang their coat. If you have more than one young child, you may want to add their name or pictures over the hook.
• a storage system for their shoes and their accessories
• a mirror to allow them to check themselves on their way out.

I think that space works well when it’s uncluttered. We are lucky enough to have space in the bedrooms to store out of seasons items and shoes. 

Having only 2 pairs of shoes and 2 different kinds of coats will allow your toddler to make choices.

And not having the out of season items available will save you from power struggles. Your child will not fight with you to wear his winter jacket on a hot summer day!

In our hallway, we have:

• a metallic storage from Ikea

• command hooks: double check the allowed weight for the hook that you choose.

• stuck on mirrors from Ikea.

If you don’t have a dedicated hallway, you may want to use a child-size chair:

• your child can sit on it to put on and take off his shoes
• have a basket underneath the chair for his accessories
• and use the backrest to hang his coat.

Now how to teach your child to put on a coat:

• Lay the coat on the floor with the collar or hood facing up (inverted) and nearest the feet.
• Stand behind the collar and bend down.
• Push one arm into the corresponding sleeve of the coat. Push all the way until the hand has come out of the armhole.
• Repeat with the other arm.
• Stand up half way bringing the coat up with the arms.
• Lift and flip the coat over your head.
• As the coat goes over your head use your hands to guide coat towards the body as it comes down your back. The back may need to be pulled down for ease.
• Adjust the coat if necessary.
• Zip up.

I hope these tips will help you to make your hallway Montessori friendly.

Let me know in a comment what space you would like me to show you next.

If you are interested in Montessori and you want to learn more, you may want to check my Montessori Parenting e-course.