Lovely handmade crafts

[Educational] DIY Montessori-style toy ideas

Nursery Teacher Mom Writertsukada moe
After working for five years at an after-school childcare club and three years at a nursery school, I began working as a freelance writer. I’m a mother of two children. Inspired by playing the flute in the school wind ensemble in elementary school, I joined a jazz club at university. I’ve also incorporated ukulele and piano performance into childcare. Playing, laughing, feeling sad, feeling frustrated—through all kinds of experiences, I want children to grow.

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 (11–20)

Exciting Post

Work No. 022: Exciting Mailbox [Handmade Toy by a Nursery Teacher]

Exciting Post

Let’s play with a mailbox made out of cardboard.

Inside the box is a plastic bottle with holes, and when you drop a ball into the opening, it passes through the bottle and comes out from the bottom.

There are two openings: one for balls and one for cards.

The card slot is small, so it may be hard to insert at first.

But figuring out how to get it in through trial and error—and building up small successes—is important for a child’s growth.

Consider making the cards from a material that won’t crease easily, and be sure to watch over your child as they take on the challenge.

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Ball drop

No.080 “(New) Wall-Mounted Ball Drop” [Handmade Toy by a Nursery Teacher]

Ball drop

This is an idea for a ball drop toy made with towel stickers and colored balls.

Since towel stickers are soft, a cardboard box is placed inside for reinforcement.

As it is, there’s no place to put the balls in, so make a hole in the lid.

With this toy, children can practice hand movements by holding a ball, aligning it with the hole, and letting go.

If the child has started walking, you can set it up at their standing eye level so they can play while standing.

This also helps develop their sense of balance.

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Ring Toss

[Handmade Educational Toy] A Toy that Promotes Finger Dexterity [Seria 100-Yen Store]

Ring Toss

You can easily make a threading toy using pool noodles and ribbon.

Slice the pool noodles into rings, attach a stopper to one end of the ribbon, and add a piece of straw to help thread the ribbon through.

That’s all the prep you need! Let the children freely thread the pool noodle pieces onto the ribbon.

If you provide pieces in various colors and sizes, they can develop color and size recognition while practicing fine motor skills.

Even if they can’t thread them at first, they’ll build problem-solving skills as they experiment and figure out how to make it work.

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In conclusion

We introduced some handmade toys that align with Montessori principles.

Many of the ideas use materials you can find around the house, so they should be easy to make.

Once you create them, it’s great that kids can play with them repeatedly.

Be sure to make active use of toys that support children’s cognitive development.