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[Educational] DIY Montessori-style toy ideas
Have you ever heard about the educational theory proposed by Montessori?
Montessori education is profound, and there are nursery schools and kindergartens that put it into practice.
There’s a growing movement to handcraft toys that align with its educational principles and use them to promote children’s cognitive development.
It’s also called “at-home Montessori,” and many families are trying it at home.
In this article, we’ll introduce ideas for handmade toys that support children’s learning.
All of them are easy to make, so please use them as a reference!
[Educational] Montessori-style DIY toy ideas (1–10)
Velcro play
Here’s an idea for using cable ties sold at 100-yen shops as toys.
There’s no need to make anything—you can just play by peeling apart the hook-and-loop fastener on the cable ties and wrapping them around a stick.
The action of peeling requires pulling with both hands, which is good fine motor practice for small children.
The ripping sensation is fun too, and many kids will get absorbed in it.
Since many children’s shoes use hook-and-loop fasteners, this also helps them when putting on their shoes by themselves.
Infinite Tissues
It’s a problem when tissues get pulled out, but you still want to support your child’s “I want to try it,” right? In that case, why not make infinite tissues? Kids can pull to their heart’s content and play over and over, satisfying their curiosity! All you need are two items from the 100-yen shop: a pull-out box and kitchen dusters.
It’s easy to make—just put the kitchen dusters into the pull-out box and you’re done! After everything’s been pulled out, stack and fold the dusters, and they can play again and again.
Pouring-and-transferring play
Let’s try a transfer activity using a small ice cube tray and pom-pom balls.
Transfer activities help children develop control of their fingers and wrists.
There are many kinds of transfer activities, but here we’ll use tongs to move pom-pom balls into the ice cube tray.
If you prepare colorful pom-poms, children can have fun while recognizing colors, and using tongs helps them learn how to handle tools.
You can also adjust the difficulty by changing the balls or tools depending on the child’s age.
bodkin (drawstring threader)
Here’s an idea for making a lacing toy using cardboard.
Lacing toys are great for developing fine motor skills and offer focused play.
Cut the cardboard into the shape of a car, then attach a car cut from construction paper in the same shape, along with windows and tires.
Reinforce it by covering the surface with OPP tape, then punch holes all the way around the edge.
With the base of the lacing toy complete, next make the laces.
Cut vinyl cord or similar to your preferred length, taper the tip, and wrap it with tape.
sensory bottle
Let’s make a sensory bottle that’s fun to look at with its sparkle and can be tilted or shaken to play with.
Prepare a small bottle, glitter or beads to put inside, liquid laundry starch, baby oil, and cooled boiled water.
Simply add the glitter or beads to the bottle, then pour in either the laundry starch, baby oil, or cooled boiled water.
The speed at which the contents move will vary depending on which of these you use, so try making different versions and enjoy the differences!
sensory mat
Let’s try making a Montessori sensory material: a sensory mat.
Sensory mats stimulate the nerves on the soles of the feet, promoting brain development and helping children develop a sense of balance.
Prepare a variety of items with different textures—such as sponges, plastic bottle caps, CD-Rs, and decorative pom-poms—and attach them to interlocking foam mats.
Then connect the mats to make a path and have your child walk along it.
As long as the materials are safe, anything is fine, so try exploring a variety of textures.
hand spinner
A hand spinner is so fun to twirl that you can’t help spinning it—and you can actually make one easily out of cardboard.
Use a 10-yen coin to draw a circle on the cardboard.
Then, draw three more circles around it so that their edges overlap the first circle to sketch the hand spinner.
Separately, draw two circles of the same size.
Cut along the sketch lines, then decorate by drawing on it or attaching origami paper.
Sandwich the spinner between the two circles and stack them, then use an awl to make a hole in the center.
Thread a toothpick through and trim off the excess at both ends to finish.
If it ends up hitting your hand, try making it with a 1-yen coin instead.