This is a guest post by Kylie of How We Montessori.

Maria Montessori believed that from birth children have a strong sense of order. She wrote that children need to see and experience order in the world so they can create order in their own minds.

What that means for us as parents is that we need to create orderly home environments. Most importantly for an infant this means orderly play and rest areas.

Before a child can crawl it is recommended that toys be placed within their line of sight. Low shelves are perfect for this. An infant can see their toys and start to creep towards them. Later the child will begin to pull up and reach for items on higher shelves. It is important to ensure the shelves are stable or secured to the wall.

To maintain a sense of order it’s important that all of the child’s toys have a specific place and are returned to that place after being used. As the saying goes “a place for everything and everything in its place.” It’s much easier for a child to learn to put away their toys when they know exactly where they go.

In Montessori environments you won’t find any toy boxes. Toys are stored on low shelves often in baskets or on trays. Baskets and trays help to contain toys with multiple pieces and are easy for a child to carry.

In our home we store most of our children’s toys and materials on low shelves. We store larger play items such as cars, blocks and train sets in baskets and tubs on the floor. While Otis will often pull all of his toys off his shelves it is quick and easy to clean up. Because he can see all of his toys it’s easier for him to select which one to play with and it’s easy for us to see if something is damaged or lost.

How do you organize your toys?

Montessori part 3 of 5

1. Kylie of How We Montessori by Kylie @ How We Montessori
2. What is a Discovery Basket and How to Make One by Kylie @ How We Montessori
3. Storing Toys the Montessori Way by Kylie @ How We Montessori
4. 5 Quick and Easy Montessori Activities for Toddlers by Kylie @ How We Montessori
5. Toddler Activities: Art by Kylie @ How We Montessori