25 Montessori Toddler Activities That Will Keep Your Little One Busy
If you're looking for some fun and educational activities to keep your toddler busy, look no further! In this post, we'll share 25 Montessori toddler activities that are both stimulating and enjoyable.
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These activities will help your child learn new skills while keeping them entertained. So get ready to have some fun with your little one.
What is Montessori for toddlers?
Montessori is a method of education that focuses on independence, self-direction, and hands-on learning. It is based on the belief that children are naturally curious and eager to learn, and Montessori classrooms are designed to promote exploration and discovery.
In a Montessori classroom, toddlers can explore their environment and discover new things. They are free to move about and choose their activities, allowing children to learn at their own pace and develop their interests.
You can easily recreate this same experience at home with your toddler through various activities and toys that will help your child develop their problem-solving skills, build their vocabulary, explore their creativity, and fine-tune their motor skills.
What Montessori activities will keep my toddler busy?
There are a variety of Montessori activities that will keep your toddler busy. Here are just a few ideas:
Playdough
Playdough is a great way to help your child develop fine motor skills. Encourage them to use their hands to squish, roll, and shape the dough. You can even add some small toys or objects to the dough for them to find and explore.
Threading activities
Threading activities are great for developing your child's fine motor skills and concentration. You can use anything from pasta to beads to string and simply thread the objects onto a piece of string or yarn and let your child explore.
Lid and bottle matching
Lid and bottle matching is an excellent activity for developing your child's motor skills and problem-solving abilities. Simply collect a variety of lids and bottles of different sizes and shapes. Then, challenge your child to match the correct lid to the corresponding bottle.
Color Sorting
Color sorting is an excellent activity for helping your child learn about colors and develop fine motor skills. Collect a variety of objects that are of different colors. Then, challenge your child to sort the objects by color.
Musical instruments
Making music is a great way to encourage your child's creativity and exploration. You can use anything from pots and pans to drums and xylophones, and let your child experiment with making different sounds and rhythms.
Peeling Stickers
Peeling Stickers is an activity that helps with developing your child's fine motor skills. Simply collect various stickers and let your child peel them off one by one. You can even challenge them to match the stickers to a specific shape or color.
Sensory Bin Play
Sensory bin play is a great way to stimulate your child's senses. Fill a bin with materials such as rice, beans, sand, water, or snow. Then let your child explore the different textures and sensations.
Spices sensory tray
This is a great way to help your child explore their sense of smell. Simply collect a variety of spices and let your child smell each one; you can even challenge them to identify the different smells.
Looking for toys inside boxes
Looking for toys inside boxes helps your child develop problem-solving skills. Collect a variety of boxes of different sizes and shapes. Then, challenge your child to find a specific toy inside each box. This activity is also great for motor skills development.
Hiding objects around the house
If you want to help your child develop their memory skills, hiding objects around the house for them to find is a great activity. Simply hide a small object around the house and challenge your child to find it. You can even make a game out of it by setting a timer to see how long it takes them to find the object.
Fruit sensory play
Fruit sensory play is a great way to develop your child's sense of smell and taste. Collect various fruits and let your child smell and taste each one. You can even challenge them to identify the different flavors.
Water painting
Water painting is an excellent activity for exploring creativity and developing fine motor skills. It is effortless to set up as well.
Fill a container with water and add a few drops of food coloring. Set out several large sheets of paper and let your child paint with the watercolors.
Water painting allows children's imagination to run as they play around with the different colors and see how they all work together.
Dress Up/Role Play
Playing dress-up or role-playing different scenarios or activities is a great way to encourage your child's creativity. It's also a great way to help them develop social and communication skills.
You can keep your child interested in these activities by taking them to different places where they can explore their other senses and take in nature.
Building towers out of blocks.
Building towers out of blocks is another excellent activity for developing your child's fine motor skills, problem-solving skills, and concentration. Collect a variety of blocks of different sizes and shapes. Then, challenge your child to build a tower with the blocks.
You can take it a step further by encouraging your child to build a tower of blocks in matching colors.
Puzzles
Puzzles are a great way to help your child develop their problem-solving skills and concentration. Start with simple puzzles with just a few pieces and gradually increase the difficulty as your child gets better at it.
Tearing Paper
Tearing paper is excellent for developing your child's fine motor skills. Collect various pieces of paper in different colors and weights and let your child tear them into pieces. You can even challenge them to make a specific shape with the torn pieces of paper.
Practical activities that keep toddlers busy
Practical life activities are a great way to help your child develop their fine motor skills and concentration. Activities such as dusting, sweeping, or even sorting laundry can help your child learn about order and sequence while keeping them busy.
Help with laundry
If you're looking to develop your child's fine motor skills and concentration, have them help with the laundry. Grab a laundry basket and let your child help you sort the laundry into piles. This can be by color or by type. Your child can even help with matching the socks or folding the towels.
Watering plants
Watering plants help children to develop care, respect, and empathy for others. By teaching the child that they need to water the plants to thrive, they recognize a certain level of responsibility for other living beings.
For younger children, you can start with a small, easy-to-hold picture and have the child water the plants on a predetermined schedule. You can create labels or stakes to put in the plants that show when the plants need to be watered.
These can be color-coded so that children know that when the stake is blue, for example, it means the plants need watering.
Older toddlers can have their watering can to use. After some time, they will find themselves taking on the task of watering the plants with little to no encouragement.
Picking up toys
The key principle of Montessori is that children should be encouraged to be independent and responsible for their learning and environment. This includes taking care of their belongings and keeping their space clean and tidy.
Toy Pick-Up Time is an integral part of a Montessori's daily routine, allowing children to practice orderliness and responsibility.
You can start by setting a timer and challenge your child to see how quickly they can pick up all the toys. This not only helps to keep your child's play space tidy, but it also helps your child to develop a sense of pride in their achievements and learn to take control of their environment.
Banana peeling
One way to support your child's Montessori education at home is through simple sensory activities, like banana peeling, which will help your child develop fine motor skills. Cut an unpeeled banana into small pieces and put a slip in the peel to give your child a starting point.
You can demonstrate how to peel the banana and then let your child experiment. This sensory activity can help your child develop independence, patience, and fine motor skills.
Montessori toys for your toddler
Musical Tray
A musical tray is a great Montessori toy for introducing your child to music and creativity. For this activity, you can use household objects that make noise or instruments such as maracas, drums, and cymbals. Place them on a tray and let your child explore the different sounds they make.
Monochrome color tray
A monochrome color tray is another excellent Montessori toy for helping your child learn about colors and matching.
Collect various objects around the house that are all the same color, such as blueberries, blue buttons, and blue crayons. Place them on a tray and let your child explore the different shades of the color.
Ball Tracker
The Ball Tracker is great for younger toddlers that are just starting to become more mobile. This toy helps your child refine their hand movements as they grab and place the balls on the track.
In addition, the ball tracker builds your child's visual tracking, prediction, and logic skills, which are essential as your child learns how to walk. The Monti Kids Level Four Kit includes a Ball Tracker and is perfect for toddlers that are just starting to be more mobile.
Nesting Dolls
Nesting dolls are a great way to help your child develop their fine motor skills and concentration. You can start with a simple set of nesting dolls and gradually increase the difficulty as your child gets better at it.
The Monti Kids Level six kit has four nesting dolls in primary colors and is especially great for younger toddlers.
Coin Box
The coin box is a great toy for young toddlers and helps to develop a child's understanding of geometry and shapes. The box comes with coins of varying shapes and sizes and encourages your child to find ways to fit the coins in the slots.
You can find this coin box as part of the Monti Kids Level 5 Kit.
Montessori Toddler Activities
There are many different Montessori toddler activities that you can do at home to keep your little one busy. By engaging in these activities, your child will develop essential skills such as fine motor skills, concentration, and self-esteem.
The Monti Kids Program is excellent for educators and parents who want to create a Montessori experience for their children at home. Every three months, you will get a kit containing activities and toys supporting your child's current development phase. This is an easy way to support your child as they grow and develop.
Do you have some of your own favorite Montessori activities that your child loves? Share them in the comment below.
