Developmental Montessori Inspired Work for Toddlers

We then found that individual activity is the one factor that stimulates and produces development”
-Maria Montessori (The Absorbent Mind, p. 7)

russian doll sorting activity in wooden tray

Usually, I introduce new jobs/ activities to my 2-year-old toddler one at a time, so she has enough time to get familiar with them and practice new skills. I also try to replace activities she has not touched for a while with new ones. However, honestly speaking at this age she does not spend much time doing her shelf activities during the day.

She is much more interested in following me around the house and participating in what we call Practical Life activities – basically doing chores. In my upcoming post I will share the list of chores that she shows great interest in. I follow her interests the best I can to provide her with the necessary equipment and teach her skills to perform them. For now, I introduce you to our new activities from this week:

Sorting from the largest to the smallest. First, I lay cards out, show her how to match pictures correctly, and then encourage her to do it on her own.

animals that hibernate montessori nature free printables pegs cards tracing print fall winter

wooden tray with coloured cards and matching pegs

Opening and shutting activities develop eye-hand coordination. Haven’t you noticed how much young children LOVE to open and shut everything that can possibly be opened or shut?

wooden tray with bird and two jewellery boxes

Pouring activity. This was very helpful to practice pouring before doing it with water.

wooden box with glass jug with blue rocks and drinking glass

Matching activity with insect stickers.

cane basket on plastic place mat with wooden box with dividers. different coloured insects for matching

Fine motor hand control activity with a coin elephant box and 5 coins. We also practice counting coins when placing them inside, which works very well.