My two year old daughter is very bright. I sometimes struggle to come up with fun learning activities for her because most are either not interesting to her or boring and overplayed.
After doing lots of research (on Pinterest), I’ve finally found some Montessori-style activities that are great for encouraging your child’s strengths and interests.
First, what is Montessori? Well, according to my research, Maria Montessori was an Italian educator who focused on a more child-centered approach to education. So, Montessori-style teaching is a system of education for young children that seeks to develop their natural interests and activities rather than use the more formal teaching methods.
What are my toddler’s strengths and interests?
Unfortunately, I can’t answer this question for you. This is something you’ll have to figure out on your own. But, some of my toddler’s interests and strengths are arts and crafts, sorting, stacking, sports, dancing, animals, bikes, the alphabet, colors and numbers.
Since my daughter was old enough to play with a toy, I’ve noticed that she has always been very ambidextrous and had always favored her left hand more. Now that she is two, she’s starting to favor her right hand but remains pretty ambidextrous. I try to focus on activities like throwing a ball and encourage her to throw with both hands until she feels more comfortable with a certain hand. The same goes for coloring, eating and painting. Rather than try to correct her I let her take the reigns.
What are some good Montessori-style toys?
You can find tons of great toys from Oompa.com. See some of our favorites below:
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| Bedtime Alphabet Flash Cards by School Zone Publishing |
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| Haba – Zoolino Stacking Toy |
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| Green Toys – Stacking Cups |
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| Lakeshore Learning – Sort-a-Shape Activity Board |
See some great Montessori-style toddler activities on my Pinterest Babies/Kids board.
