Montessori Playroom
Are you planning to design a Montessori playroom for your child?
Montessori learning has gained immense popularity over the years and is a great educational philosophy to implement and integrate into your home environment.
Bringing up children using the Montessori principles provides lifelong benefits that help them achieve higher levels of academic attainments and promote them to become well-rounded individuals.
Let us understand what a Montessori playroom is and how it can help your child.
Contents
What is a Montessori playroom?
A Montessori playroom is a clean and simple space for children to play and learn. The Montessori Playroom environment should have ample open space and must incorporate a limited number of age-appropriate toys that promote independence and develop concentration skills in children.
Features of a Montessori playroom
Some of the features of a Montessori playroom include:
- A limited number of age-appropriate Montessori toys and Materials are carefully selected to facilitate learning and development in children.
- The Montessori furniture, materials, and toys are child-sized and are arranged at a child level to promote accessibility and self-reliance.
- A Montessori Playroom should have open space to promote self-directed and open-ended play.
- A Montessori Playroom has a cozy, minimal, neutral environment where children enjoy playing.
- Everything in a Montessori Playroom is organized and placed in its designated area to provide a sense of order in the environment.
- Activities in a Montessori Playroom are diverse, interactive, and entertaining that engage all the senses of the child.
Activities and benefits of Montessori playroom
Children get engaged in a wide range of activities in a Montessori playroom.
- Toys:
Montessori toys come with a purpose. They help children develop their concentration, gross and fine motor skills, and problem-solving ability. You can include the Pikler triangle, pegboard sets, the pink tower, and many more in the toy collection for these purposes. - Building blocks and puzzle activities:
These are ideal for toddlers. Puzzles help in developing critical thinking skills. You can upgrade each time if the children show interest in them. Building blocks and puzzles also help children in developing basic mathematical skills. - Musical instruments:
Some musical instruments like xylophones, drums, shakers, and keyboards can be set up in the playroom. If the child shows interest in them, you can add more instruments over time. - Art and crafts:
Parents and children can do this activity together. Children enjoy art with deep concentration. Arts are crafts works typically well during periods of sensitivity as they can engage the child’s focus for prolonged periods of time. - Language activities and books:
Children enjoy books with colorful illustrations. You can add more books as they get bored soon with the same books. It develops their reading skills.
Searching for Montessori Books For Toddlers? Check this out: https://mymontessorimoments.com/montessori-books-for-toddlers/ - Sense of order:
All the toys and materials are assigned a specific place on the shelves. children have the liberty to choose the toys they want. After playtime, all the materials go back to their respective shelves. It fosters order and discipline in children, and they learn to organize their things.
How should a Montessori playroom be designed?
Setting up a Montessori Playroom is as simple as using a spare room at your home or even a cozy nook that provides the child with a safe space and loads of materials to interact with.
Children, especially the younger ones have a short attention span and tend to get bored easily. To bring out their energy and cater to their curiosity they begin to jump around the house to get your attention.
As a parent, it can be quite exhausting. So, Are you facing similar challenges and finding it tough to keep your child engaged for hours?
The reason most likely would be they don’t find their playroom interesting. A playroom must be appealing to children.
A Montessori playroom can address these challenges.
When you set up a Montessori playroom, plan to design it in such a way that your child can reap maximum benefits of growth and development from each aspect of it
1) Keeping it simple
The simplistic and minimalist nature of Montessori provides children with a relaxing environment.
The Montessori playroom must be kept simple with a limited number of Montessori toys and materials. A limited number of toys helps the children to focus on each toy and explore it until they master it.
It helps develop their concentration and leads to meaningful play and also helps to keep the room clutter-free.
It is ideal to have 8-10 toys/activities in the playroom for the children. In case there are too many toys, they can be stored somewhere else.
They can be rotated once a week when the children are bored with the toys already in the playroom. It keeps them engaged, and they learn to master all the toys.
2) Making it a quiet and open space
The playroom must be a bright open space with plenty of natural light that makes the room inviting. Open space and a peaceful environment naturally encourage creative and independent play.
An open space promotes the development of gross motor skills. Children get enough space to climb, move around and explore. Motions and movements are necessary for their growth and development.
If there is a constraint in having open space in the playroom, you can plan anywhere in the house. Light-colored walls and neutral decor can also brighten up the space.
Children indulge in explorative and imaginative play in the Montessori playroom. A quiet space stimulates their imagination.
3) Everything must be child-sized
Kids enjoy everything of their size. As the room is designed for kids, you need to consider their needs. It is convenient for them to reach everything in the Montessori playroom when they are arranged at their level.
Low and open-style shelves help display all the toys and encourage children to reach on their own and put them back on their own.
Artworks can also be displayed at their height as they learn to appreciate them. Bring in nature by adding flowers and plants to the room. It helps the children learn to care for nature and make the surroundings beautiful.
It is a great idea to add a child-sized chair and table in the playroom as they enjoy doing their activities sitting on them.
4) Choosing mixed toys for engagement
It is wise to invest in a few Montessori toys that can engage the children in meaningful ways rather than provide entertainment.
Children love to explore, and the toys you choose must reflect their interests. Mixed toys and activities can be added like puzzles, language activities, books, and other activities that enhance motor skills and problem-solving skills.
For infants and toddlers, it is ideal to have different kinds of Montessori toys.
Pikler triangle and play zone tents with balls are good choices for infants and toddlers.
Toys should be simple and made from natural materials like wood. It must encourage creativity and other development in kids.
Wooden Toys are preferable to plastic and battery-operated toys that distract children and do not encourage creativity and focus. They are eco-friendly and durable too.
You can include some plastic toys which can serve the purpose if you have budget constraints. You can make some toys of your own at home with the materials available. It can also benefit the children in their development.
5) Making the space cheerful and inviting
The playroom must be a comfortable space for the children where they love to spend time with their toys, books, and other open-ended activities.
A comfortable couch to sit on, some cushions to snuggle in, a rug or carpet, and plenty of natural light will make the room look warm and inviting. A few family pictures, plants and flowers, and artworks are great ideas to add.
6) Create order in the environment
Children love and thrive on routines during their early stages of development.
A Montessori playroom should support the requirement for a sense of order in children by assigning everything to a specific space on the shelves. After the play, children can be encouraged to put the toys back in their rightful place.
This way the children learn to keep their surroundings clean and organize things themselves.
Final Thoughts
You can create a Montessori playroom with what works for your family and space. Specific rules are not needed to follow for this.
If you already have a child playroom, you can make it Montessori-friendly with a few arrangements.
What matters the most is the development and engagement of children.
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