Toddler Montessori: Shape Sorters

Joshua loved this toy when he was an older infant and toddler. 

I painted the pieces blue so as to isolate the concept of shape, but I left the box unpainted. The bottom I lined with felt because the sounds of the pieces falling into the box. 

When he got older, we used the same pieces to learn the names for each of the shapes and all of the related sensorial games from the sensorial album. 

Toys in the Montessori Home - Primary

Our toys requirements for the primary Montessori age - 3-6 years old:

• real materials
• real images
• constructive
• imagination development
• develop real-life skills
• aesthetics: something I can stand to look at
• long-lasting (culturally, age-span, actual number of years in use)

And these lists are not including activities that don't require materials - this is just physical items.

So what did we have? A lot that has been very multi-age - we use a lot now in elementary, and had some of it in toddlerhood as well. 

• Balance Beam - great extension for walking on the line (does not replace it!)
• Lincoln Logs - cultural significance to North America, natural, limitations of styles encourages creative solutions to build various structures, those same limitations demonstrate what is possible or not possible with this particular material
• Easel - double-sided with chalkboard and magnetic/dry-erase board
• Art and Writing supplies: non-drying clay, a few kid water-colors, easel paper, various high quality paint brushes, a couple of junk drawers for random supplies to use for imaginative purposes, high-quality paper scissors, fabric scissors, tracing paper, some construction paper, glue, double-sided tape, Prismacolor colored pencils, white erasers, KUM pencil sharpeners, cheap sets of cards and envelopes, notepads
• Craft supplies: yarn, knitting needles, crochet hooks, cross-stitch and embroidery materials, felt
• Schleich and Toob animals and scenery
• Wood barn
• Supply of cardboard for making own creations

• Gardening supplies
• Stuffed animals - nothing gaudy or entirely unrealistic
• Wood train track with magnetic-wooden trains
• Music: various percussion instruments from various cultures
• Books - lots and lots of excellent literature selections
• Wood pattern blocks for tessellations and patterns: we had these at the primary age, but they were not a big hit
• Games: typical deck of cards, Skip-Bo, Uno, Bible Timeline cards, Mary Memory Match, Opposites Matching 
• Building blocks
• Blankets and pillows for making forts
• Practical life items: child-size brooms and mops, cleaning cloths, spray bottles; yep, these were toys ;) 
• tricycle (carryover from toddler)

This has actually been a difficult list to create because so much of our school and home/play overlaps, flowing from one to the other. Because of this overlap, this list actually looks longer than it feels. 

Toys in a Montessori Home - Lower Elementary

Our toys requirements for the elementary Montessori age - 6-12 years:

• constructive
• imagination development
• develop real-life skills
• aesthetics: something I can stand to look at

So what do we have? A lot that has carried over from primary actually - just expanded and deepened, with a few things removed: 

• Legos - yep, plastic - constructive, imaginative, aesthetics (good and bad), patterning - we do NOT utilize many specialized pieces; a friend has described his engineering college degree as "legos on steroids"
• Lincoln Logs - cultural significance to North America, natural, limitations of styles encourages creative solutions to build various structures, those same limitations demonstrate what is possible or not possible with this particular material
• Easel with chalkboard and magnetic/dry-erase board
• Art and Writing supplies: non-drying clay, real water-colors, a few kid water-colors, easel paper, various high quality paint brushes, a couple of junk drawers for random supplies to use for imaginative purposes, high-quality paper scissors, fabric scissors, tracing paper, some construction paper, glue, double-sided tape, Prismacolor colored pencils, white erasers, KUM pencil sharpeners, cheap sets of cards and envelopes, notepads
• Craft supplies: yarn, knitting needles, crochet hooks, cross-stitch and embroidery materials, felt, fabric and thread, use of the sewing machine
• Schleich and Toob animals and scenery
• Wood barn
• Supply of cardboard for making own creations
• Gardening supplies
• Stuffed animals - nothing gaudy or entirely unrealistic
• Wood train track with magnetic-wooden trains
• Music: various percussion instruments from various cultures; recorder with instruction book; CDs; CD player; 
• Books - lots and lots of excellent literature selections
• Wood pattern blocks for tessellations and patterns: my Montessori albums do not include presentations for these, so we count them as "toys"
• Board games, card games, strategy and logic games: this is a whole post by itself! See this post for a few of our games
• Building blocks
• Wood yo-yo
• 2-wheel bicycle
  
• jump ropes, kites, sleds
• Keyboard: newest acquisition - yes, it's for learning to play, but it's also for fun!
• Kept the balance beam! 

This has actually been a difficult list to create because so much of our school and home/play overlaps, flowing from one to the other. Because of this overlap, this list actually looks longer than it feels. A lot of these items were primarily "school" at primary and are now toys; or are still partially used for school. 

And I want to include our science supplies as toys, because they are so much fun! But I'll hold back on that one! ;) 

Toys in a Montessori Home - Series

So not only does my son have a Montessori education, with the influence of such at home - we are homeschooling Montessori, so the influence is even greater.

I've had a few e-mails asking what kind of toys does my son play with? What do we allow or disallow?

Well. There's toys, then there are toys.

Yes, I have always made very conscious decisions about purchases and gift lists. Follows were the credentials:

• small living space
• not easily broken, yet encourages proper care
• readily repairable when needed
• limited budget for batteries and electric bills
• desire for an actual attention span in my child

We have had more than our share of plasticy toys, items I didn't really want but somehow ended up in our home, whether because the previous tenant left a bunch of stuff, or the church nursery was closing and I received everything to use for my in-home daycare, or as gifts. 

Maria Montessori was not opposed to toys - she just found that the children *chose* not to use them when they were presented with more real-life items that fit their developmental needs at the time. 

What follows in the next few days is a series of posts about some of the toys we've had in our home over the years for various purposes. 

The second Mama-endorsed electrical "toy" ;) 

Toys in a Primary Montessori Home
Toys in a Lower Elementary Montessori Home