THE TODDLER HOME ENVIRONMENT

While this guide presents some basic ideas for setting up a Montessori-inspired home environment for your toddler, keep in mind that everyone’s routines, physical space, and adaptability look different and evolve over time. As a general guideline, our goal is to create a safe, inviting space within which the child can independently explore. Some helpful books for further reading include The Montessori Toddler by Simone Davies and Montessori From the Start by Paula Polk Lillard and Lynn Lillard Jessen.

ASSESSING THE SPACE

To begin, take a look around your home and consider where you’re able (and willing) to designate space(s) over which your child takes ownership. Outside of your child’s bedroom, a corner of the living room or dining area often works well for toys and books. Consider sources of natural light, your family’s traffic patterns, and proximity to your own work/living spaces. You may want to include a type of “work rug” (i.e. a large placemat, small blanket, or towel) to demarcate a clear boundary of your toddler’s workspace; this will set them up for success down the road in preschool, where classroom work rugs are used constantly throughout the day. When it comes to the kitchen and bathroom, consider dedicating an accessible drawer, cabinet, or low shelf from which your toddler can retrieve and put away the materials they need within that space (i.e. a drawer with their toothbrush and bath toys in the bathroom or a drawer with their cups, plates, and utensils in the kitchen). By giving your toddler a space or spaces to call their own, you’re reinforcing their agency as a member of your family and setting an expectation that they, too, have manageable areas for which they’re held responsible. 

ARRANGING MATERIALS

Once you’ve decided where to create spaces for your child to access independently, it’s time to fill them. I use the word “fill” cautiously - less is more! You may notice that our classroom shelves are not overflowing with materials. This is done intentionally so as not to overwhelm the toddlers with a distracting amount of choice; by limiting the number of works available to them, the children can efficiently make choices based on focused interests. At home, consider putting out 8-10 materials maximum on a shelf, ensuring each has a designated space to return to. When possible, incorporate cubbies, baskets, and bowls to separate the materials and encourage your child to replace them when finished. 

 

Within your kitchen or bathroom, your toddler’s shelf, drawer, cabinet, or “corner” can be as simply arranged as those for the adults in your home. As long as it’s accessible and contains the objects necessary for your toddler to independently go about their routines, it’s great!


MATERIALS TO INCLUDE

While there are an overwhelming number of sites dedicated to selling beautiful Montessori materials, much of what we use in our toddler classrooms consists of repurposed/recycled materials you likely already have around your home. Once you’ve set up a designated space for your toddler to work, you can recreate some of the routines and materials they find in the classroom. Anything left out for your child in these spaces should be something you feel comfortable leaving them to use without supervision. Be sure to note any choking hazards, sharp items, breakable objects, etc. The shelves in our classroom are grouped into the following categories. You may want to play around with including a few materials from each, observing what your child gravitates toward, and rotating new materials in and out accordingly. As always, feel free to reach out to your toddler’s teacher with any exciting, confusing, challenging, or heartwarming observations from home - we’d love to share in the discovery with you.



PRACTICAL LIFE MATERIALS/ACTIVITIES

  • FOOD PREP

    • Any time your child is able to participate in preparing food, we encourage it!

      • Washing produce in a small colander

      • Chopping (we use these knives at MACH; apple slicing rings also work great for older toddlers)

      • Pouring in pre-measured ingredients from a prep bowl to a bigger bowl using small measuring cups or spoons or ladles

      • Stirring/whisking

      • Spreading nut butter, jams, cream cheese, avocado using a tiny knife or the back of a spoon

      • Peeling oranges/bananas/avocados

      • Pulling grapes off from a bunch

      • Taste-testing, wafting smells as things cook :)

      • Food prep is also a great time to discuss/reinforce handwashing as a way to stay healthy and safe

      • Sorting food into fridges/cabinets as it arrives (you can even use this as a “work,” taking food out of its storage space and inviting your child to guess/discuss where it should go to stay fresh)



  • CARE OF ENVIRONMENT

    • Toddlers love being involved in tasks that we as adults often call “chores” - especially any type of cleaning, provided that you’re willing to let the duration of the process double in length :)

      • Using a washcloth to wipe up spills

      • Using a spray bottle and squeegee to wash windows or shower doors

      • Dusting shelves/furniture with a feather duster or microfiber cloth

      • Dish washing in a plastic bin/storage container filled with soapy water and a fingernail scrub brush 

      • Helping to load/unload the dishwasher (perhaps just utensils to start)

      • Sweeping with a dustpan and dust broom 

      • Folding laundry (at MACH we see a lot of enthusiasm for rolling washcloths that have been pre-folded in half)

      • Feeding pets by pouring scoops of food or water into bowls

      • Watering plants around the home

      • Sweeping/raking outdoor areas

      • Using a small bucket of soapy water and a scrub brush to clean hard surfaces in the kitchen or bathroom

      • Filling a bathtub with soapy water to give toys “a bath” and clean them with a scrub brush or sponge (pending weather and the layout of any outdoor space you might have, you could hold a mini “car wash” for riding toys/bikes outside your home)

FINE MOTOR MATERIALS

    • Our toddlers LOVE pouring works, especially involving water. 

      • These can be as simple as setting out two similarly-sized measuring cups (on a placemat) and filling one with water, dry goods (i.e. rice, lentils), or art supplies (i.e. pom poms).

      • Part of the experience of wet pouring work is cleaning up any spills - a small sponge not only enables your toddler to independently clean their space but also to work on their fine motor skills when wringing it out and aiming it into the receptacle. 

    • Toddlers are all working toward dressing/undressing without parental aid, and this is a great time to “leave them to it” to work on it. Consider setting out a basket with a few shirts, pants, socks, jackets, hats, mittens, etc. for them to explore. They can also help with folding and sorting them away when done.

      • Loose socks for pulling on and off

      • Loose pants for pulling up and down

      • Practice with the “flip trick” for putting a coat or sweater on

    • Threading shoelaces or ribbons over/under/over/under punched holes in a piece of cardboard

    • Our toddlers are also very interested in fasteners/seals/closures of any kind 

      • Empty jars/lidded containers from your recycle bin can be put in a basket with the lids removed. Your child can dump the basket (an exciting activity in and of itself) and match the lids to containers, then practice opening and closing them.

      • Small zippered pouches (i.e. makeup bags, pencil cases, small purses) are another excellent simple “open and close” material. Try filling one with small objects such as corks or tiny toys and have your child unzip, empty, fill, and zip the bag.

GROSS MOTOR MATERIALS

          • Heavy objects to pull and push around the room (i.e. a recycled milk jug filled with sand or flour, a small backpack full of beanbags, a medicine ball)

          • Toy cars to push around your home

          • Two small towels/placemats (on carpeting, so they don’t slide) with a bit of space between them (invite your toddler to jump back and forth between the two, tiptoe back and forth, take big steps back and forth, etc). 

          • A soft/plush ball and a basket into which to throw it

          • Scarves with which to spin and dance

          • A set of colored cards or pieces of paper for scavenger hunt “color hunts” around your home

SENSORIAL MATERIALS 

          • Nesting dolls

          • Graduated stacking tower blocks

          • Shaker bottles with varying volume levels

          • Textures to explore (i.e. a basket with a square each of satin, felt, and sandpaper)

DRAMATIC PLAY MATERIALS

          • Toy foods, serving, and cooking tools

          • Costumes, hats, sunglasses, capes

          • Baby dolls, diapers, clothes, bottles

          • Wooden blocks, magnetic tiles, legos, and other building materials

          • Musical instruments

PUZZLES (GRADUALLY INCREASING IN DIFFICULTY)

          • Knobbed puzzles

          • Geometric puzzles

          • Jigsaw puzzles




Common problems and possible solutions:

My toddler is screaming/crying because they want me to be with them but I have my own tasks and routines (or a need for space!) I need to work through alone.

Though it might feel difficult, try practicing being in the space with your child but not interacting. Maybe bring some documents that you need to look at into your child’s space and sit down on a pillow to read, offering them hugs and touches and smiles when they ask for them but keeping your space and your distance. When they are occupied, try moving quietly back to your workspace. If none of this works and they’re still screaming and trying to get to you, you can either try letting them self soothe or invite them to sit in or near the space where you’re working with their own materials to use in parallel. After a while, they will likely begin to continue self-exploration.

It makes me nervous or frustrated that they are banging and throwing the materials around.

Try not to let their exploration get to you. Remember all of the objects you chose for that environment are completely safe. You can allow them to work with anything that you gave them without supervision. Remind yourself of this over and over again until it sinks in.

I feel weird or guilty not playing with them.

Don’t. Remember that your child occupies themself for a large part of every day at school. They just need to practice doing it at home as they would any skill. They are safe and are able to work independently - they do it at school for long periods of time!

My toddler needs SPACE!

You can put your toddler in their room with a baby monitor. As long as the room is totally baby proofed and they have no electronics that they could get into, consider this option.