The Keys to Montessori Shelving in the Home

Today I want to talk a little about Montessori environment. One of the most important keys to a good Montessori environment is how it's organized. You want the child to be able to access and easily see all their toys and activities. In a Montessori environment, we provide this ease of use and access by setting up shelving specifically for the child.

In this society, toy boxes are the most common way to store a child's toys. Unfortunately, toy boxes are overwhelming for children and not conducive to teaching organized thought and habits. In our house, instead of using boxes, we use shelves. The aim, for me, is to provide shelving for Little A in every room of the house, this way she has ownership and participation in everything that we do as a family. I'm going to share the keys on how to set up a good Montessori shelf.

1. Place the shelf in an accessible and family-centric part of the house. You don't want the shelf to be shoved way off in the corner, where no one ever goes because then it won't get used or maintained.

2. Try to place all toys and activities in a clearly marked or defined space. This can be accomplished by using baskets or boxes but you can also just put different sets of toys apart from one another.

3. The shelf should be low to the ground and stable, especially if it can be climbed on.

4. This one isn't a "must" but it's definitely a good idea. Try to rotate what toys are out on the shelves. This keeps your kiddo interested and engaged in their things, cutting down on toy burnout. It also allows you to buy less toys because you can make older toys new again by bringing them out after having put them away for a time.

5. Try to incorporate a shelf or other "space" (ex. drawer) in every room that your child is allowed into.

That last bit is definitely still a work in progress in our house. Our office is a disaster zone, to say the least, but I do plan on having a kiddo craft station set up in there later this year.

As you can see, it's not all that difficult. You do have to stay on top of it otherwise things can get messy pretty fast but to me, it's totally worth it. I can see that Little A enjoys having her things available to her and she's learning some great organizational skills.



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