Montessori materials at home: what to buy and what to make (ages 3 to 6)
Software Engineer · Father of two··7 min read
Montessori shelves have multiplied in a few years, and it is easy to get lost, or to spend a lot. Yet the essentials of the approach come down to a few simple ideas: offer the child activities within reach, which they choose and carry out alone, with materials that let them check the result themselves. Here are the basics, what is worth buying and what you can easily make yourself.
1The idea in a few lines
In this approach, created by Maria Montessori over a century ago, the child learns by handling and repeating concrete activities at their own pace. The material isolates one difficulty at a time and often lets the child notice an error alone: the pieces do not fit, the series is not complete.
You do not need to turn the house into a classroom. A few well-chosen activities, placed at the child’s height, are enough to try it out.
The word “Montessori” appears on very different objects, without that guaranteeing anything about their quality. Look at what the child can do with the object, not at the label.
2Start with practical life (from 2 to 3 years)
This is the cheapest area and often the most popular: children love doing what grown-ups do.
- ✓Pouring and transferring: water, rice or lentils from a small pitcher into a glass, with a sponge at hand.
- ✓Pinching and moving: transferring chickpeas with tongs or a spoon.
- ✓Dressing: clothes or frames with buttons, zippers, laces.
- ✓Helping at home: wiping the table, folding napkins, watering a plant, with child-sized tools (small broom, small watering can).
For most of these activities the material is already in your kitchen: a tray, two bowls, a spoon. Buy only what is missing.
3Language: sandpaper letters and the moveable alphabet (from 4 years)
Sandpaper letters are letters cut from sandpaper and glued on a board: the child traces them with a finger while saying the sound (the sound, not the name of the letter). The moveable alphabet is a box of letters you assemble to build words before being able to write by hand.
These two tools go well with the phonics sheets and letter-tracing worksheets on the site: the child sees, touches, says, then writes.
- ✓Sandpaper letters: can be made with fine sandpaper and cardboard, or bought ready-made.
- ✓Moveable alphabet: a set of wooden or plastic letters, with several copies of the vowels.
- ✓Miniature objects: small animals or things whose names the child builds.
4Numbers: number rods, beads and counters (from 4 to 5 years)
The number rods are ten rods of different lengths, painted in red and blue, that let a child feel that a number is a quantity. Beads and number cards extend the work to tens and hundreds.
You can do without them to try things out: cubes, counters or pipe cleaners are enough for counting and grouping.
- ✓Number rods, from 1 to 10.
- ✓Sandpaper numerals and counters: match a numeral to a quantity.
- ✓Golden beads (later): units, tens, hundreds.
5What is better made yourself
Many supports are easy to prepare at home. The site offers free templates for several of them: flashcards, pre-writing sheets, letter and number tracing, memory games.
- ✓Activity trays with household objects.
- ✓Picture-word cards: images of animals or fruit with their names, to print and laminate.
- ✓Lines to follow, tracks and dotted lines printed on thick paper.
- ✓Sorting and counting boxes made from reused containers.
6How to store and offer the activities
How you present the material matters as much as the material itself.
- ✓A few activities at a time (four to six) on a low shelf, swapped from time to time.
- ✓One tray, one activity, with all the material on it: the child can take it, do it and put it away alone.
- ✓Show the movement slowly once, without commentary, then let the child try.
- ✓Do not correct for them: let the error be discovered when the material allows it.
An activity the child chose usually holds them longer than one imposed on them.
You do not need to buy everything: start with practical life using what you have, watch what your child likes to repeat, then add material for language or numbers. Making some of the supports yourself costs little and works very well.
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Print custom flashcardsFrequently asked questions
Do I need “real” Montessori materials to start?+
No. Start with what you have at home, watch what your child likes to repeat, then buy only what is missing.
Does Montessori suit every child?+
Concrete, free activities appeal to many children, but every child is different. Watch yours: if they are bored, try something else. It is not a program to follow to the letter.
Is it compatible with school?+
Yes: these are activities at home, alongside school, which follows its own curriculum. Nothing about them is exclusive.
Are the “Montessori” toys sold in stores reliable?+
The word appears on very different objects, with no guarantee of quality or fit with the approach. Examine the object: is it simple, sturdy, child-sized, usable alone?
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