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November In The Kitchen Garden
Planting Overwinter onions, garlic or shallots is a perfect activity for toddlers and preschoolers. We are just planting garlic this year. The cloves are chunky and easy for kids to hold and generally speaking they can survive most mishapscaused by tiny gardeners! Any bulbs you put down in Autumn will be ready in June or July. Prepare Your Beds Garlic, onions and shallots all like free-draining soil. As the bulbs will be in the soil until at least June you must take steps to prevent them becoming waterlogged. The kids helped me to drill drainage holes in the base of our planters. Tip for kids: garlic isn’t all that exciting…
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Cooking with Toddlers: Simple Apple Tart
Finding the perfect Montessori recipe for toddlers can be tricky. I usually find I have to get a bit creative with adult recipes. This apple tart is a combination of a few different ones that I’ve adapted to allow for greater toddler independence. Alfie (3.5y) complete each of the steps and only needed guidance on what to do next. It was really delicious and looked far fancier than it was. Toddler skills Spreading Rolling Peeling Mixing eggs Sieving Ingredients 3 large apples (I used Fuji) 1 sheet ready-made puff pastry 2 tbsp apple purée 20-30g butter 1 egg Few tbsp castor sugar Pinch of cinnamon Method Roll out sheet of…
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Montessori at Home; The Table Tray
Many a meal time have descended into a kind of seated jig for me. I plate up a meal, we sit down to eat and someone needs a drink, or someone forgot a fork, someone needs the toilet or someone wants more juice or in the worst scenarios they don’t like what’s on offer and I’m making something new. Meanwhile my dinner forms a skin and goes cold while my blood pressure creeps ever northward. I’m fairly laid back but this was starting to really grind my gears. So, I looked at our problems and tried to come up with a solution. Part of the problem was a lack of…
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Our New Montessori Kitchen
Over the last few months we’ve done a bit of moving and shaking at home. Our house layout wasn’t serving us anymore so we moved the playroom and with it the kids’ kitchen. However that didn’t really work either so their Montessori kitchen space has migrated back into our kitchen BUT I’ve made some changes to how it’s used. Follow us on Instagram to see daily stories of how we use Montessori at home. A Simple Montessori Kitchen Firstly I scaled their available equipment all the way back, they no longer have everything displayed all at once. We used to have too much choice, their utensils were all necessary for…
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Montessori At Home – Cooking with A Toddler
In the last few weeks Alfie has started using his Kitchen to make real meals. Needless to say I’ve been cooking up a storm as I try to make the most of this interest – for the very first time in my life I’m baking! Blackberry Picking I was delighted to stumble across a blackberry bush thriving in the hedgerow along our lane. I still can’t believe I live somewhere that has not only a lane but also a hedgerow. For me blackberries are always a bittersweet sight. Their glossy black arrival spells the end of lazy hazy summer days and the scratch of briars was quickly echoed by scratching…
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Montessori At Home: Our Work Shelves at 2 Years
Why have we introduced Montessori trays? How did we decide what to include? Most importantly - what does our toddler think of them?
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Montessori at Home: A Toddler’s Kitchen
The kitchen is full of things which pose a danger to a toddler. There are sharp implements, hot surfaces, glasses to break and liquids to spill. Yet the kitchen is also full of opportunity for a toddler who more than anything else seeks the chance to be independent and to make a valuable contribution to their family. Our Kitchen Space We are lucky enough to have space for a dedicated unit just for Alfie. Of course this is not possible in every home but if you can then it’s best to give a child their own dedicated space, even if it’s just on shelf in a cupboard or a low…
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Easy Vegetables to Grow with Children
Any outside space is the ultimate prepared environment, without any effort at all it provides a wealth of learning opportunities in just about every plane of development and to suit nearly every interest. Here's a quick guide on how to get started on the veg patch and how to get your toddler involved too!
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Montessori and Independence; The Self – Esteem Secret
Examining the link between independence and self esteem and discovering that it is not something we can expect schools to achieve without parental support.
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Montessori – A Lesson For Parents In Trusting The Child.
Follow the child is a popular hashtag on instagram, but aside from letting kids pick their own books and toys what does it look like in practice? Sometimes it means trusting them when they tell you “I’m ready.”
