A new way of thinking about your child’s and their relationship with toys is spreading across the world. It is focused on play, creativity, and the self-development by the child of their own fundamental skills.

Have you ever heard of Montessori Toys and Montessori Education?

What is Montessori education?

It’s viewpoint on children’s education developed by physician Maria Montessori.  It emphasizes independence and creativity - it views children as naturally eager for knowledge and capable of initiating learning in a sufficiently supportive and well-prepared learning environment.

The Montessori Method fosters rigorous, self-motivated growth for children and adolescents in all areas of their development—cognitive, emotional, social, and physical.

The philosophy of this method is that children needs be encouraged to participate in open-ended play and given access to real life scenarios through games. This means that the best toys, whenever possible, should not have one fixed purpose but rather act as a stimulus – allowing the little ones to use their imagination and creativity.

What makes a toy ‘Montessori’?

When looking for toys that foster a child’s development, there are three things to remember—education, engagement and entertainment.

Montessori Toys focus on those qualities and help your child to develop core characteristics that will be fundamental as they mature. Those toys can be an incredible ally in your child’s development and are being used at homes and by educators in dozens of countries.

Why choose Montessori toys?

Teachers and parents are encouraged to source toys that are made from natural materials that foster unstructured play. The toys should imitate real life scenarios such as cooking, building or cleaning. Montessori Toys will capture a child's attention and ignite their curiosity about the world around them, making them a welcome addition to any home.

What are the benefits of Montessori Toys?

As we already established, playing with Montessori Toys helps the development of your child in numerous ways, including advances in language development, executive function, and brain growth itself.

Researchers have compared children across educational programs and found that those in Montessori programs scored higher on levels of creativity.

Creativity is a skill that can be cultivated in the earliest years by a child’s environment. The best environments are thoughtfully designed to include a rich selection of developmentally appropriate materials that inspire learning through playful exploration.

Montessori fosters independence and self-direction through the thoughtful design of each toy, the layout of the play space, and the way the adult interacts with the children. They learn best when the task in front of them doesn’t bore them with simplicity or frustrate them with difficulty, but falls somewhere in between.

When children are given independence, they develop self-confidence and resilience. Studies show that when children have more control over their learning they work harder, perform better, retain more information and are more creative and joyful.

Our job as adults is to foster all of those skills and guide them on a better path of development, and Montessori Toys are a great tool for that.

Where to find them?

On our virtual store we have a wide range of Montessori and other types of educational toys, for different age groups and purposes. Visit our site and see by yourself what kind of toy fits best for your child’s development and needs.

What do you think about the Montessori method and its applications? Have you ever heard of it before, or had first-hand experience with it? Children education is an ever-evolving field and new ways of improving their development are always welcome to any parent or teacher.