Montessori shelves at 32 months

I hadn’t updated Frida’s work shelves for a good while, and the start of the new year felt like the right time to do so. I love the period immediately following a materials rotation, observing what she chooses to work with, demonstrating anything new, and watching as she enters a deep state of flow.

Plants for watering.

Modelling clay. Perfect for strengthening hand muscles in preparation for writing.

Cutting and pasting tray with scissors, pot of glue, and a selection of paper strips.

Sound cylinders. These are a wonderful material. The child picks a red cylinder, listens to the sound, then tries to find the matching blue. There are numbers on the bottom for control of error.

Farm frame puzzle. This has been out for a while so I will probably change it soon.

Threading toy (similar here). This was a gift and Frida has been really enjoying it; brilliant for fine motor skills and because the hedgehog stands up on its own she an focus on threading rather than holding it.

Sandpaper letters (single and double). A classic Montessori material. We introduced these in the summer.

World puzzle map with Montessori globe and picture atlas. The puzzle map and globe have been such a great buy for Frida, she has shown a real interest in learning the continents, and I think this enriches so much of her other learning eg. about animals or people.

Paddington puzzle. A sweet Christmas gift.

Animal and animal track matching cards (with cards from this Match a Track set).. The full game is much too difficult for Frida so I’ve set out six pairs which I’ve chosen especially because they are all noticeably different.

Oak tree puzzle. This beautiful puzzle is probably a bit easy for Frida, but she has never used it as a puzzle before – previously it was in her playroom, used as a toy. It still requires some thought as the leaf and acorn will only fit one way.

Number matching puzzle. Frida used to have just numbers 1-5 out, I’ve now added 6-10 to make this more challenging. I also added a number work book.

Grimm’s fractions puzzle. Frida is finally ready for this beautiful puzzle which I have kept stashed away for over a year!

Art materials: Finger paint in soap dispensers (it’s not great quality but it’s very easy to clean and washes out well), premixed Stockmar liquid watercolours, Stockmar opaque tin, and a pad of watercolour paper.

Frida also has crayons, pencils, and paintbrushes attached to her table, and a water source to use for painting.

What are your children working on at the moment?