Do you have to be a Montessori daycare to use these materials?
No. Many facilities borrow a few materials and one principle from this approach: the child chooses, works alone and tidies up. This is Montessori-inspired material, without the facility claiming to follow the method.
Where do you start with the youngest?
- The object permanence box: the ball disappears and comes back.
- The disc or coin box: a precise wrist movement.
- A knobbed inset with three shapes: large, medium, small.
- A ring stacker or a simple stacking game.
What comes next?
- Sorting by colour, first by hand, then with a spoon, then with tongs.
- Threading and lacing, which make both hands work together.
- Screwing and locks, close to practical life.
- Cylinders and textures, to compare by touch.
- Colour tablets, to pair and then to order.
How do you present the materials?
- One material per tray, complete and in good condition.
- On a low shelf, always in the same place.
- A slow demonstration with few words, then let the child do it.
- One copy of each material: the child learns to wait for a turn.
- Tidy up before taking something else.
How do you know a material is at the right level?
Observe. A child who repeats the activity several times in a row is at the right level. If they finish it effortlessly and turn away, offer the next step. If they misuse the material or drop it at once, withdraw it and offer it again a few weeks later.
What about first numbers?
They come after sensory work. Materials that link the numeral to a quantity you can touch, such as a counting board from 1 to 10, are introduced with the older children, once sorting and counting objects are secure.
