1) Take Stock of What Is There...
2) What is Accessible to Your Toddler?
3) How Can You Change About The Space?
Make sure that you ask yourself these three questions in every room of your house. They will really help you think outside your normal box.
YOUR PORCH (Don't forget the 3 questions.)
Some Ideas:
-If you have outdoor furniture, make sure that is 1) accessible or 2) get/make some child-sized outdoor furniture.
-If you have a place to wipe your feet, make sure that your child can use it too.
-Put a small shelf on your front porch. (A great idea for outside shelving is to use bricks and boards. Paint them colorfully and make sure they are safe.) Now put some sidewalk chalk and any other front yard toys on it. If you garden out front, put a small hand shovel and a pair of your child's gloves out. Put out a watering can or container for watering plants.
-Keep thinking. Other ideas will crop up if you just keep your toddler's perspective in mind.
YOUR FRONT ENTRY (Don't forget the 3 questions.)
-If you don't already have one, make or buy a set of hooks to hang low on the wall. Your toddler will use this to hang their coats, sweaters and even their purse or bag on.
-A stool is very valuable to have in your front entry. It gives you toddler a place to sit and put shoes on and take them off.
YOUR LIVING ROOM (Don't forget the 3 questions.)
-Many households have a toy box in the living room; toss it! Think shelving. Putting in one low shelf is not very hard, even in cramped quarters, and it will help tremendously in the Montessori process.
-If you have room, think of adding a child sized armchair or other piece of sitting furniture. We don't often think about how odd it must be to rigorously climb on and off of HUGE pieces of furniture.
-Adding a shelf (like the gutter shelving mentioned earlier) in the living room can be great for reading households.
YOUR DINING ROOM (Don't forget the 3 questions.)
-Obviously you will need a place for your child to eat. There are many choices. Many families choose a high chair or booster seat so children can eat with their families. These are definitely some good options.
-Another idea is to have a child sized table with a couple chairs in the dining room. Your toddler doesn't need to eat all her meals there but they are excellent for snacks and projects. Optimally you would get one with chairs rather than one with built in benches (like a picnic table) because this allows your child to move her environment around more freely.
-One thing that I highly discourage is allowing your child to graze. By graze I mean just giving them food whenever during the day and allowing them to roam around with it. This leads to over eating and makes life harder on everyone in the long run.
YOUR KITCHEN (Don't forget the 3 questions.)
-The kitchen is a pretty important place to many families; alot happens in the kitchen. So it's a place where there's alot of potential for growth.
-Place a few hooks down low (like you may have in the front entry) to hang a dust pan, mop and broom (all child-sized, of course).
-We all baby-proof our kitchens but maybe you can leave one cabinet and/or drawer unlatched for you toddler to get into and play with the pots, pans and tuperware.
-The kitchen is a great place for another small, low shelf to place some toys or montessori activities on. How great would it be to be able to get activities out to entertain your toddler while you are cooking.
-One of the coolest Montessori kitchen gadgets I've seen is the "kitchen helper". It's sort of like a tall stool with sides (to prevent falling) so that your child can help you do everything from washing to cutting or cooking.
-For families that want to go to extremes: add a dishwashing station (you can buy one here), add a small wooden kitchen set, build a counter that your child can use for preparing foods, use your imagination, etc.
YOUR BATHROOM (Don't forget the 3 questions.)
-The most obvious item here is the potty chair. I recommend a chair over an insert for the adult toilet. It is better for a child to understand how things will work in relation to their size.
-A stool is also great to have in the bathroom. Optimally we would all have child sized sinks in our bathrooms but we don't so a stool is the next best thing.
-A low shelf is also a real plus in the bathroom. Stock the shelf with a brush/comb, a toothbrush, and anything else your child might be able to use on his own. Remind your child to put things away where they go.
YOUR CHILD'S BEDROOM (Don't forget the 3 questions.)
-Montessori teaches that a child is better off on a bed that is lying on the floor rather than in a crib or even a toddler bed. This is not a rule but is actually quite helpful if you are willing to spend the time to teach your child firm rules about bedtime. Plus, a bed on the floor takes up less space.
-No toy boxes! Replace them with long, low shelving where toys can be organized into baskets or containers according to use (ex: finger puppets in one basket, stacking blocks in another, etc.).
-An adult sized armchair or rocking chair is very nice in your child's room to be able to spend cozy-up time in but ALL OTHER furniture should be child sized. I've seen Montessori rooms with small pianos, swings, rocking horses, etc.
-A full length mirror is great to have in your toddlers room because being able to see her whole body will give her a better sense of self.
-Having a small table and couple of chairs is very helpful. Your toddler will love sitting down there to draw, paint and even play with his Montessori activities.
YOUR BACKYARD (Don't forget the 3 questions.)
-Have a shelf in the back yard too! It's great for keeping gardening tools, bubbles and even outside shoes on.
I think that's about it. If there are any rooms that you feel I've missed or something you would like more info on, please leave a comment.
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