montessori classic mobiles

These are the classic Montessori mobiles that I have made for my daughter. She had an absolute blast watching them as early as 3 weeks old.  As with everything in the baby's environment, I rotated the mobiles to maintain interest, starting from the Munari mobile. Babies reflexively prefer to look at high-contrast patterens. The black and white colors provide highest possible contrast to the eye, and thus, are most visible and attractive to babies.

  The Munari Mobile

The Octahedron Mobile

  The Gobbi Mobile

The Dancers

The Rainbow

Mobiles are important for the education of the visual sense according to Maria Montessori,“the higher development of the senses actually precedes that of the higher intellectual faculties.”

The visual mobiles are given to a baby  who is not yet reaching or grasping. They should not be hung so far away that the baby can't focus on them. These mobiles can be ordered here.

Directions for how to make your own Gobbi mobile can be found here.

This shows a baby enjoying a butterfly mobile, focusing and concentrating!!!

 Montessori Video, Infant - Concentrating, Focusing on a Mobile

Here are a few other mobile ideas that are very simple and aesthetic. The Joyful Child, (michaelolaf.com/store) is known for selecting the very highest quality and most appropriate materials for young children.

Stay tuned... in the next post, I will introduce how to make one of these mobiles! 

 

good books make me happy

This book, "A River of Words: The  Story of William Carlos Williams", by Jen Bryant is an absolutely beautiful book of art and words! It is gorgeously illustrated and I liked the sample text: "plums, wheelbarrows, fire engines, children, and trees"- the sort of vocabulary and rhyming that children love! 

Check out this blog for a thoughtful information on how you can help create a literate home environment for your children.

Just so you know...this is Chelyn's books in a basket in her bedroom. There are around 20 books on active rotation in different areas on our home as well as in our car.

Snack time

After months and months of looking for an interesting place to put Chelyn's snack, I found this corner shelf from an etsy shop,  buckcreekfurnishings. This beautiful corner shelf is truly like a tresure box filled with carefully chosen healthy snacks. The cabinet is just the right size for the little hands too!

In the cabinet, I have prepared  foods that are acceptable to eat in appropriate quantities. Every morning after the breakfast, Chelyn  relishes the chance to prepare  fruits or vegetables to add with the rest of her snacks. She washes  and cut them all by herself too!


Chelyn is free to prepare snack at any time and she proudly sets the snack table with a placemat, a napkin, a plate and a cup.  This creates an ability to make decisions and leads to independence.

She seems more eager to eat and more satisfied. And from my perspective, the added bonus of taking the time to create this environment is enormous.This activites are great way to encourage eating healthy snacks for growth and development, supporting life long healthy eating habits.

And just today, I was really excited to run into thekidcancook, a resource for creative ways to feed young children, with a focus on balance and presentation. After all, raising a healthy kid is not so difficult! Isn't it?