5 Essential Montessori Materials For Toddlers

Whether you are preparing to homeschool your child, preparing them to attend an actual Montessori school or are looking to enrich your child’s home environment, here you will find a list of the absolute essentials that will prepare your child for the future. The list of Montessori materials is comprehensive, but this article will take a look at the necessities.

Note that the traditional Montessori toddler classroom is strongly based on Practical Life materials, which will allow them to gain real-life skills needed to master their environment, whether that’s dressing themselves, cleaning or learning skills related to more precise movement. The Sensorial aspect of the curriculum is also a strong focus in the Montessori toddler classroom. As such, essentials will primarily focus on these two areas.

Essential Materials For Practical Life:

1. Spoons, Bowls and Pitchers (Control of Movement) 
   A large part of the Practical Life component is based on control of movement, such as pouring, transferring and sorting, which makes items like spoons, bowls and pitchers absolute necessities for children to be able to master their control of movement.
2. Dressing Frames & Hair Brushes (Care of Self) 
   The Practical Life component also focuses on care of self, making dressing frames, hair brushes and other self-care-based materials essential materials.
3. Cleaning Tools (Care of the Environment) 
   Cleaning tools that allow children to care for their environment are also necessary. Examples in this category include brooms, mops, dusters, etc.

Essential Sensorial Materials:

Children will also spend a lot of time with sensorial work, making materials in this category absolutely essential for toddlers.

1. Pink Tower
   The pink tower is an iconic Montessori material and is definitely a necessity for every child.
2. A Small Cylinder Block Set
   The full-size Cylinder Blocks can be unwieldy for toddlers, but a small or miniature set serves to introduce this important activity in sorting and differentiation.

Language/Math Materials:

The language and math component isn’t as heavy of a focus as the other two curriculum areas for toddlers, but it is still a good idea to introduce your child to these materials anyway. In terms of language, materials like wooden puzzles and sandpaper letters are a good start. Good options for math materials would be sandpaper numbers, number blocks and puzzles, as well as other sorting/counting materials. Your child will more than likely be at least introduced to these concepts, so it is a good idea to be ahead of the curve when it comes to your child’s education.

Thinkamajigs offers high-quality, value-priced Montessori teaching materials, educational toys, games and puzzles. You can view our selection in our catalogue here. We ship anywhere in North America. Contact us for more information.