I probably could come up with a list of a million plus one montessori or montessori-inspired toys and manipulatives I want. For my daughter. Yes, for my toddler daughter. Not for me. At all. And it seems like no matter how many I have or how big they are, I always want. I look around and see one or two or twenty plastic, talking/singing/laughing/creepy-as-all-get-out (I am looking at you, learning puppy) and I doubt myself. I feel like an impostor in my crunchy, montessori world (or at least the one I've created in my head).
For example, we have the learning tower. Courtesy of a good friend who saw it on a yard sale page and held it for me till I could figure out how those crazy pages work. Now I am addicted. Thanks a lot.
http://www.forsmallhands.com/for-the-youngest-child/the-learning-tower
I love the concept and my daughter loves climbing in it, around it and through it but until she is more capable, we haven't used it much for helping mama (and dada) with food prep. So far it functions as more of a distraction tool so I can throw dinner on as quickly as possible. This 110% goes against Montessori philosophy but it is the truth here. :-) She DID stand in it to sprinkle sea salt and homemade taco seasoning on the ground beef the other night. So there's that.
Then we have this toy that Dada found at a yard sale and we were over the moon at the reduced page. Yeah. Toddler daughter (TD) has barely given it a second glance. Ah, well. I still love the concept as each individual section of the toy moves.
http://www.forsmallhands.com/for-the-youngest-child/wiggling-worm
We were lucky enough to get Melissa and Doug primary colored wooden blocks on FreeCycle. I love FreeCycle and is a big part of the reason why we even have half the toys we have as we would not have been able to afford them otherwise. She likes these and I love the open ended play they can inspire.
http://www.melissaanddoug.com/wood-block-set-small
Dada found these ones at Savers while we were on a buying-plastic-toys moratorium. These were, therefore, allowed. TD and Dada just put these away, as a matter of fact, after they went through the alphabet, talked about the pictures on the blocks and made the appropriate animal sounds. ;-)
They have since moved onto another montessori-inspired toys but one we 'made' ourselves. We ate hummus, salsa, cream cheese, etc and we washed out the containers and they are now a source of great fun for minutes and minutes. (Hours in toddler time.) I would wager the containers are one of TD's favorite toys albeit they have been away from a little bit. On a side note, I always find it interesting how her interests wax and wane, not unlike an adult's. I cant count the number of times I have been deeply engrossed in a hobby and then put it aside for weeks, only to pick it back up again afterwards and repeat.
http://www.melissaanddoug.com/wooden-abc-123-learning-blocks
It may be wishful thinking but I feel I notice a difference in her playing when she is playing with wooden toys (which absolutely) have more of an organic feel than plastic. She does like mega bloks (the big cousins of legos) and she does 'get into them,' which pleases her lego obsessed father to no end but still. The play seems and feels different. I am going with it, wishful thinking or not. If nothing else, wooden toys tend to not make your home look as 'daycare-d' as mountains of bright, plastic items. I like it. :-)
Stay tuned for the post detailing all the montessori manipulatives I covet.
For example, we have the learning tower. Courtesy of a good friend who saw it on a yard sale page and held it for me till I could figure out how those crazy pages work. Now I am addicted. Thanks a lot.
http://www.forsmallhands.com/for-the-youngest-child/the-learning-tower
I love the concept and my daughter loves climbing in it, around it and through it but until she is more capable, we haven't used it much for helping mama (and dada) with food prep. So far it functions as more of a distraction tool so I can throw dinner on as quickly as possible. This 110% goes against Montessori philosophy but it is the truth here. :-) She DID stand in it to sprinkle sea salt and homemade taco seasoning on the ground beef the other night. So there's that.
Then we have this toy that Dada found at a yard sale and we were over the moon at the reduced page. Yeah. Toddler daughter (TD) has barely given it a second glance. Ah, well. I still love the concept as each individual section of the toy moves.
http://www.forsmallhands.com/for-the-youngest-child/wiggling-worm
We were lucky enough to get Melissa and Doug primary colored wooden blocks on FreeCycle. I love FreeCycle and is a big part of the reason why we even have half the toys we have as we would not have been able to afford them otherwise. She likes these and I love the open ended play they can inspire.
http://www.melissaanddoug.com/wood-block-set-small
Dada found these ones at Savers while we were on a buying-plastic-toys moratorium. These were, therefore, allowed. TD and Dada just put these away, as a matter of fact, after they went through the alphabet, talked about the pictures on the blocks and made the appropriate animal sounds. ;-)
They have since moved onto another montessori-inspired toys but one we 'made' ourselves. We ate hummus, salsa, cream cheese, etc and we washed out the containers and they are now a source of great fun for minutes and minutes. (Hours in toddler time.) I would wager the containers are one of TD's favorite toys albeit they have been away from a little bit. On a side note, I always find it interesting how her interests wax and wane, not unlike an adult's. I cant count the number of times I have been deeply engrossed in a hobby and then put it aside for weeks, only to pick it back up again afterwards and repeat.
http://www.melissaanddoug.com/wooden-abc-123-learning-blocksIt may be wishful thinking but I feel I notice a difference in her playing when she is playing with wooden toys (which absolutely) have more of an organic feel than plastic. She does like mega bloks (the big cousins of legos) and she does 'get into them,' which pleases her lego obsessed father to no end but still. The play seems and feels different. I am going with it, wishful thinking or not. If nothing else, wooden toys tend to not make your home look as 'daycare-d' as mountains of bright, plastic items. I like it. :-)
Stay tuned for the post detailing all the montessori manipulatives I covet.
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