The best Montessori activities for my baby

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The Montessori philosophy, to amuse and stimulate the awakening of one's little one

"The child is not a vase to be filled, but a source to be let out"

Here is how we can summarize this philosophy in a quote.

Dedicated to the education of children, Maria Montessori was the first woman doctor in Italy to advocate this education. Today, we find this method of learning in some kindergartens, day nurseries and even at home.

This pedagogy offers parents to educate their child (from an early age) in respect for its development passing by many activities. The child is here the only actor of his own development. Parents' behavior towards the child also plays an important role in the Montessori method: by wanting to rush things, your little treasure would risk missing out on certain essential steps in its development.

And it’s through many early learning games that the child will discover the world for himself according to his needs, her personality and especially to his rhythm. The principle: let the child discover, experiment, try, in short learn alone and at his own pace.

Montessori pedagogy: Why is it good for babies?

In this philosophy, there is only good for your little one! The child develops multiple capacities which will be useful to him in his evolution, and this, almost from his birth:

• It promotes self-confidence and autonomy : essential and essential qualities in its development. Learning to do it alone and doing it without the systematic help of parents empowers him and makes him more independent in everyday life.
• Baby develops her observation and his concentration. He uses his surroundings to discover and observe the world around him. In a way, it also promotes his awakening.
• He learns byexperience, it grows by the Game. It's not for nothing that the Montessori learning method involves play and manual activities. Because it is by playing that baby will be built by working with the hands and the brain at the same time.

Some Montessori activities to do at home for babies and toddlers

To awaken them at home, no need to run to toy stores! You can simply use equipment or objects that you have at home, or even better realize yourself certain games and / or activities. You will find here or in some books offering Montessori activities to create lots of ideas.

Activities for 0 to 6 months

• Introduce baby very early mobiles that you can hang above the changing table or its cradle. By looking at them, baby is concentrating on a particular object and will work his observation. He may even try to catch them while growing up. You can make it at home very simply with origami or pompoms.

• Give him toys and / or objects that make noise. This activity will allow him to manipulate objects and at the same time discover and pay attention to different sounds. Nothing could be easier to make a small toy that makes a noise: pour rice or pasta into a small, airtight box, then shake!

Activities for 6 to 12 months

• Offer him a sensory tank. It is a box in which you place various objects: a soft toy, a hard ball, a rattle. The goal is to make him discover objects with different textures and colors. Sitting in front of this box, he will discover these objects by taking them in his hand. This activity will help him develop his hand-eye coordination.

• Let it paint with your fingers. Perfect for awaken the senses and creativity. Does your little wolf put it everywhere? It's perfect, he experiments with mixing colors, discovers the texture of the paint under his fingers and observes the stain of paint spreading over his apron! And don't worry, using detergent like Le Chat Sensitive 0% , you can get rid of all stubborn tasks while respecting his skin.

© iStock

Activities for 12 months and over

• Ask him to drop small objects in a bottle. Very easy to do at home, this activity does not require a lot of equipment, and will especially make your little wolf work on his fine motor skills and his control of his hand and wrist. He will like to listen to the sound of the falling object and will discover that a small pompom makes less noise when falling than a glass ball or a plastic toy.

© Ludikid

• Offer to play with plasticine. Knead, tap, smooth… Your child will work his little fingers and hand muscles to be able to more easily carry out the movements and handle the plasticine. He can also use accessories to leave traces in the paint: small toys, fork, plastic animals, leaves, feather …

And so that he can play without fear of getting dirty, equip him with a protective apron that covers well.

>>> Read also:
– Our selection of Montessori games, designed for ages 3-6
– Six months already: the prowess of a half-year-old baby
– Ideas for manual activities and Montessori-inspired games
– Baby at 1 year, language, food, walking … where is it?
– Teething: no more hassle!