Hello.
I am a Montessori Teacher, OFSTED registered Childminder and the Managing Director of www.montessori-activities.com. We are a UK-based Educational Supplier specialising in Montessori Practical Life Activities and other educational materials fitting the Montessori Philosophy.
When I set up my first Montessori environment at home nearly 10 years ago, I was not yet a trained teacher ? Montessori or otherwise. I started by consulting this excellent book, and took it from there: ?Montessori Play and Learn: A Parent?s Guide to Purposeful Play from Two to Six? by Lesley Britton.
Many activities in a Montessori environment can easily be made at home ? in fact most of the activities in the practical life area in Montessori classrooms are put together by the teachers. Even some of the materials more traditionally associated with the Montessori method of education (e.g. the colour tablets, the sound boxes, the touch tablets) can be made at home with a little bit of time and at a fraction of the cost of those available to buy from traditional suppliers. Other games and activities are not that different from those found in traditional child-care settings ? they are just presented and worked with in a slightly different way. Generally activities are presented as self-contained units, each one on its own tray or basket, which contains everything needed for the child to complete the activity by themselves without needing to ask for help. Activities are generally grouped logically and displayed on low, open shelves so that children can choose for themselves what they want to work with at a given time.
Good places to start looking for cheap materials:
? Your own home: chances are you or your friends already have most of the basic items needed to start setting up a Montessori environment.
? IKEA: for small tables, chairs and stepping stools, low open shelves, child-sized real glasses & plates and craft paper.
? 99p/Dollar shop or equivalent ? we try to go once a month for our own nursery, as the selection changes all the time, and you never know what you might find.
? Charity Shops & Fleamarkets ? same as above.
? Local Kitchenshop, Hobby & DIY Superstore for small household goods, tools and arts & crafts supplies.
? In the UK: Your local Government Resource Centre or Scrapstore which collects suitable waste-products from local industry that can be used in many different ways including arts & crafts projects and for open ended, heuristic play.
? www.montessori-activities.com
God places to look for little luxuries & nice to haves:
? Muji: for the odd little fabulous thing like their current range of themed wooden playing blocks.
? Museum Shops: These have really started to focus on early child-hood learning and can be relied upon to stock many a wonderful thing. (In London we love: Tate Modern, the Natural History Museum, the British Museum and the V&A)
? www.montessori-activities.com (Montessori is our passion, and we are constantly looking for the best new products to bring to parents and educators of young children.)
In the first instance, what are you looking for & why?
? Little baskets & trays, either as plain as possible so as not to detract from the task at hand or themed to match the activity (e.g. a heart shaped basket or tray for a Valentines day activity). In Montessori settings each activity is presented on its own tray or basket, as a self-contained unit with everything needed in place so that, once shown how to, the child can complete the activity by themselves without having to ask for help.
? Little bottles, jugs, funnels, colanders, sieves etc. for pouring activities
? Interesting little bowls or receptacles e.g. novelty ice-cube trays, soap pads and compartmentalised bowls for transferring and sorting activities.
? A selection of interesting little spoons & tongs, again for transferring activities.
? Items to transfer & sort: Glass or Plastic Beads, Little pebbles, Coloured Sand, All manner of Pulses & Grains, Marbles, Playmaize, Cotton Wool Balls, Pompoms, Mini Novelty Rubbers/Toys, Sequins etc.
? Pipettes, Syringes, Little Sponges, Colanders, Sieves for water transferring activities.
? A collection of little boxes, receptacles, bottles & jars with different opening mechanisms for children to practice their fine motor skills.
? Child-sized but real (not make-belief) household goods so that children can look after their environment by themselves: small dustpan & brush, duster, broom, mop & scrubbing brush, bucket, mopping cloth, small washing-up brush & bowl.
? Traditional Child?s Leather Shoe, Wooden Box or Ornament, Recycled Hub Cap, Old CD, Small Hand Mirror as well as natural leather, furniture, metal & glass polish (either bought or homemade) for polishing activities.
? Little Kitchen implements for food preparation: vegetable peeler, chopper, grater, pestle & mortar, citrus squeeze, Whisk, Spreader Knife, Chopping Board etc. for food preparation activities or the snack table.
? A selection of little vases and doilies for flower arranging activities.
? A heavy based sello-tape dispenser, small hole punch and stapler, a selection of small scissors, glue, pencil sharpener & plain or lined paper for the office area/literacy area/art table.
? Selection of Beads for threading activities, Strips of Card with holes punched into them for threading activities, Scraps of Material, Ribbons, String, Wool, pipe-cleaners or thin strips of paper, a child?s weaving frame, knitting doll for weaving, braiding, sewing, knitting activities and arts & crafts activities.
? Recycling: rinsed milk bottles, cereal packets, yoghurt pots, egg cartons, corks, aluminium foil, bubble wrap, kitchen paper rolls, old magazines etc. for art & craft activities.
? Wax Crayons, Coloured & Plain Pencils, Paint, Watercolours, Selection of sponges, rollers, brushes, Coloured Card & Paper, Tissue Paper, Clear Foil & Sequins, Stickers and Glitter Glue for a little bit of fun.
? (Home-made) Playdough, Rolling Pin & Cookie Cutters
? A selection of Children?s Books, cushions & throws for the quiet area
? A selection of Bean Bags, scarves, balls, ropes for gross motor play
? Nice to have: Selection of non-specific puzzles, memory & matching games, counting games (i.e. a puzzle about the four seasons rather than one featuring a character from a film)
? Nice to have: A selection of little items or pictures each beginning with a phonic sound for early literacy ?I-spy? games
? Nice to have: A selection of small percussion & wind instruments
? Nice to have: Small Tools (Hammer, Nails, Saw, Screws & Screwdriver) & Safety Equpiment (Gloves & Safety Specs) as well as sawn off log for woodworking activities. Hammering Game
? Nice to have: Small gardening and sand & water toys for outdoor activities.
? Nice to have (& somewhat controversial in Montessori circles): We have a ?den? building & open-ended play area with two traditional wooden clothes-stands and a selection of big colourful silk scarves, big clothes-pegs and baskets of natural materials like pine cones, big shells, marbles, tree block bricks etc. All materials are natural and open ended (somewhat in the Waldorf tradition) and should not lead children down one particular path of play, but rather let them explore their imagination.
If I were to buy just 5 items from the Traditional Montessori Curriculum it would be these ones & in this order:
? Practical Life: ?Dressing Frames or Game? and ?Lock & Latch Box? ? both difficult to make at home, very useful for practicing fine motor & life skills and so much more neat & tidy than the home-made versions.
? Sensorial: Knobbed Cylinders ? teach a variety of concepts, fascinating even for adults and nearly impossible to make at home.
? Maths: Spindle Box ? although this can be made at home, I love the neatness of my purchased box. It shows, without a doubt, whether a child has begun to grasp the concept of numbers.
? Literacy: Moveable Alphabet (large or small) ? not only useful for early language activities - mine has helped several 6 & 7 year olds diagnosed with ?unspecified learning difficulties? to learn to love to read & write.
The above items reflect only my own personal choice & experience. Every Montessori teacher & setting I know starts out with only a small selection of these traditional Montessori materials, adding to them according to the interests of the children and as budgets permit.
I hope this information has been useful. I would be happy to answer any further questions you may have ? please pm me via this website or find my contact details on our website (www.montessori-activities.com)
I am also going to start writing up lesson plans for each of the above mentioned groups of activities for people who are not trained Montessori teachers, but who want to include Montessori Activities at home or in their playgroups. If you are interested, please let me know and I will make them available to you.
Good luck on this exciting adventure ? I know both you and the children will have a fabulous time.