50 Montessori Activities for 2 Year Olds

Maria Montessori (1870-1952) noticed that young children are naturally drawn to the types of things that allow them to put their sense of order to use. They also have an inner developmental need to gain independence. This certainly seems to be true for most toddlers that I know.

A primary goal of Montessori philosophy is: "Help me to do it myself". We want to encourage children to learn by doing and to incorporate a sense of learning and accomplishment into their everyday tasks and activities. These little guys and gals are so much more capable than we realize!

Many Montessori-inspired activities promote self-sufficiency, have a built-in control of error, appeal to the senses, and/or prepare the finger muscles for holding a pencil for writing. Most importantly, they are geared towards a young child's developmental interests.

In order for us to successfully prepare the environment for learning, it is important that we regularly observe each child for changes in their particular interests and their developmental readiness.  

Here are some of my previous posts on Montessori activities for younger children: 

Montessori for 21 to 22 Month Olds

Montessori for 19 to 20 Month Olds

Montessori for 17 to 18 Month Olds

Montessori for 15 to 16 Month Olds

Montessori-Style Education

The Importance of Nature for Young Children

Throughout the past months, I have continued to introduce R to new Montessori-inspired works and he absolutely loves them. When I set up these activities, they are displayed in an organized and uncluttered way on low shelves that R can easily reach. Everything has a place in which it belongs and R is expected to return his work to the appropriate space. He chooses what he wants to do, and for how long.

Here are some of the activities that R has been working on throughout the past few months. (He is 2 years 4 months old). They are divided into the categories of: creating a sense of order, fine motor development, pre-literacy, math, sensorial, and practical life activities.

Creating a Sense of Order

Matching

   Colors 

   Cars

   Animals

   Landmarks

   Socks

Sorting

   Shades of Color

   Cereal

   Shape Blocks

   Silverware

  Solid Figures (spheres, cylinders, and cubes)

Sequencing

   Knobbed Cylinders (we bought the mini ones for now; they are more affordable)

   Events from Books
 

   Basic Skills Puzzle Cards

Fine Motor Development

Lacing

   Shoe (this big shoe is easier for him to lace than his little shoes)

   Animal Frames

   Jumbo Beads (also used for learning simple patterns)

   Paper Weaving

Pouring

   Water (and wiping up the spills)

   Juice 

Spooning and Transferring

   Stones

   Erasers (could use for Valentine's Day)

   Coins (could use for St. Patrick's Day)

   Chicks (could use for Spring/Easter)

   Beans

  

Cutting

   Real Food (also spreading butter)

   Wooden Food

   Using Scissors

Pre-Literacy

   Letter Matching

   Alphabet Bean Bags (toss and act out something that begins with the phonetic sound)

   Writing (if using the pen is too challenging, fill in the letter with play-doh)

Mathematics

   Spindle Box

   Sandpaper Numbers

   Numbers and Counting Dots

Sensorial

   Feely Bag

   Sound Cylinders

   Mixing Colors (to create new colors)

   Bath Tub Jello (to dig for the hidden animals)

   Sensory Tub

Practical Life

Self Care

   Dressing Basket

   Brushing Hair

   Brushing Teeth

   Putting on Shoes

   Zipping, Snapping, and Buttoning

   Washing Hands

Household Chores

   Cleaning Windows

   Washing Dishes

   Sorting Laundry

   Setting the Table

   Arranging Flowers

   Laying Out his Mat (and rolling it back up)

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Choosing a Montessori Pre-School

R has done an amazing job with his Montessori works at home. Yet, in the past, I was never completely sure about sending him to a Montessori pre-school. I knew that I wanted to send him somewhere that was good match for his personality and learning style. I wanted the teachers to be child-centered and nurturing. I wanted him to gain self-confidence and self-direction. The most important thing is that he is happy and loves being there.

So when we started searching for pre-schools, we considered a wide range of traditional, play-based, and Montessori programs. We found two schools that we like; as in, we could imagine R going there and doing well. We found one school that we seriously love; as in, I want to go to that school myself, befriend the teachers, and delve right in to all of the interesting materials. R's face lights up anytime we talk about that school and he begs me to take him back there. It is a Montessori school. Needless to say, we will be completely crushed if he doesn't get in. We are currently on the waitlist and will find out about our status in March.

Here are some positive things that stood out to me about this school:

1.  Teachers:  Passionate about their students and about Montessori principles. I could already see R bonding with several of them when we were there at the open house.

2.  Core Values:  Each child is taught to develop their own unique personality instead of conforming to the social norms. A child does something because of an inner desire to do it, not because the teacher said so. The program highly values freedom, responsibility, curiosity, thinking outside the box, motivation, concentration, persistence, respect for all living things, manners, discipline, structure without limitations, and actively contributing to society.

3.  Inherent Flexibility:  The children go at their own paces and are never made to feel that they are "behind." The teacher adapts individualized lessons for each child, depending on their learning style, interests, and level of ability.

4.  Classroom Community:  The primary classroom consists of 3 to 6 year olds, which means that the older students act as teachers and mentors for the younger ones. They truly care about, admire, and support each another.

5.  Everything is Child-Sized:  bathrooms, sinks, the materials for children to prepare their own simple snacks, the clean-up supplies, the gardening tools. Each classroom as their own garden and they grow and eat their own vegetables. All of this really fosters a sense of independence and self-confidence.

6.  Nature-based:  Along with a playground, the children are also provided with an abundance of natural materials to explore during recess, such as sticks and logs to build their own forts. They go outside several times throughout the day to work directly with nature.


Here are some drawbacks to consider about a Montessori school:

1.  The children do not play with toys or dress-up for imaginative play.  I believe that this type of play is actually very important for a pre-schooler's development. Since R will only be going to school for a few hours each morning (8:30 to noon) I am not too concerned though, because I know that he will have plenty of time to play during the rest of the afternoon and evening.

2.  The name Montessori was never copyrighted, so any school can use the name Montessori and just do a few simple Montessori-inspired activities as a way of justifying their high tuition. They are not a true Montessori school unless they are affiliated and certified by the AMI or AMS. We made sure to check out the two Montessori schools that we were interested in before we visited them and they were both AMI certified.

You can check out all of the AMI certified schools on the Association Montessori International website.  There are a lot of wonderful options for Montessori in the DC metro area!

From an educational standpoint... 

Child development research has shown that the most crucial years for brain development occurs during the first 6 years of a child's life. So, pre-school and kindergarten really set the stage. During this time, a person builds the foundation for how they will process and use knowledge that they acquire then and later on in life.

Of course, very few classrooms these days are completely traditional in this sense. Many effective teachers combine some aspects from traditional methods with ideas from various other schools of thought. That is what I did as a 2nd grade teacher, as do most other teachers. This chart solely serves the purpose of contrasting a Montessori classroom with a completely traditional one.

Here is a recent article about the benefits of Montessori education with a focus on famous entrepreneurs who learned how to "think outside the box" at an early age. (This link only lets you read the first few paragraphs, but if you can find the entire article, it is a very interesting read!)

And if you really want to learn more about Montessori philosophy and practice, check out MariaMontessori.com. I really feel like the more that I learn about Montessori, the more I appreciate it and realize that it just makes more sense!