Tour of Montessori toddler classroom - updated September 2018

- Hello everybody,
it's Simone Davis here from JA

around Tree Montessori for
the Monte Montessori notebook.

And I thought it would be fun to show you

around my classroom as I've made a few

changes in the last six months.

So a little update for those

of you who've seen a tour before.

And so this is us coming
into our classroom

and you can see uh, straight
away very low shelves.

This is for a toddler
classroom from 16 months

and we actually have
some kids in the class

who are three years old waiting

to start school here in
the Netherlands at four.

So I've got a little area of the classroom

that I've blocked off that I'll show you

later for them as well.

So these are all

of the I hand coordination
activities along here.

So you can see on the top
puzzles going from easiest

to hardest along the
shelf down the bottom.

This is like an opening and closing row.

So purses to find little objects inside.

Um, the very famous lockbox, the kids love

to open up the locks and
find little objects inside.

And there's a, a Russian
doll have a table here

that they can bring their work to.

One of the objectives of changing

around the classroom a little bit was

to free up some floor space

so the children can also roll out a mat

and work anywhere in the classroom.

I'll come and show you
around this side first.

So here we have some I hang
coordination activities,

things like the coin box
where they post the coins,

building a tower with
pegs, a balance beam.

And then down here I have a
series of threading activities.

So wooden pieces on the left,
smaller pieces in the middle,

and then in the two ones
on the right are very small

beads and shoelaces.

Hello everybody. Thanks for joining.

Super fun to show you around
my classroom in Amsterdam.

These are some more Han
coordination activities.

You're welcome Anna. She
said thanks for this.

Um, on the left they're posting little

tiny pegs into the hole.

Um, it's gonna be hard
for me to open up any

of the baskets when I've
got a camera in my hand.

Sorry about that. And then
this is one of the GA boards

for stretching elastics across.

This is a wedges activity.

It's not specifically Montessori
but it's always in use.

It's really good for sequencing.

Again, geo shapes,

- I love these. These are different

- Screwing activities and it comes also

- With Allen keys that you can use.

And this inside has got nuts and

- Bolts so

- That they can grade them in
order from bigger to smallest

and learn to screw the
nuts onto the bolts.

- And this is our basket of rugs

that they can lay out on the floor.

There's also little chairs
and tables with plants around.

And then we come around to our
art and craft activity area.

So you can see the activities
laid out beautifully on the

shelf and area where they
can dry their paintings.

And these two little green
boxes to the right of

where we store the supplies.

And we have a round table
at the moment for our area,

which is very nice

for if they wanna collaborate a little bit

with clay and things like that.

Hi Elizabeth. Thanks for joining.

So let's have a look at exactly
what's out at the moment.

In the little box, on the
top left is some nice pencils

for drawing really thick,
chunky ones for little hands.

This is our box for clay.

I really like this box

because you can open it
with one hand actually

and then it seals airtight, which is great

for homemade Play-Doh.

This is the cutting activity.

So a simple sturdy strip for them

to be able to snip through.

And if they wanna repeat, then these are

where the supplies are And
they can put the little cutting

strips into the envelopes here

and close it with stickers in this one.

And then underneath here
is paper for drawing.

And in this one is our gluing
activity supplies paper

for gluing and the sewing cart supplies.

And this is extra paper for watercolor.

So those activities that I mentioned

are down on the bottom shelf here.

There's the watercolor
activity, so there's just

- One color here, a brush

and a little bit of water at the ready

- Or they can go refill it

and a cloth, a paper
underneath ready to go.

- This is a gluing box which
I made in my Montessori

training only 15 years ago
and it's still going strong.

I've had to glue it back
together a couple of times.

It'll glue brush in there.

They use this lid as actually
a surface to glue on.

Sorry, excuse the bumpy filming here.

Hope you don't get seasick.

And in this is the little sewing box.

- Okay, - It's very hard to
do these things one handed,

I think I'll come back to that .

- Okay, so over here we
always have chalk as well

and and eraser.

Hi Carolina, thanks for joining.

And this is where they do their painting.

So you can see the aprons on the left.

There's clips that they can use.

These ones I found at Muji,

not here in Amsterdam but in France.

And they have them around the world, These

wet cloths to wipe their hands
or the floor or the board.

And then two choices of color here.

And then when they're finished
they can take it over here

and they can practice pegging head up

and there's more paper
for them to continue here.

Okay, so that's this side.

Over here I have a little baby's area

'cause we often have some
younger siblings coming to class

or for the babies who've just
moved up from the older group

so that they can get straight
on with where they're up to.

They like these pop-up
toys on the top shelf,

posting the little pegs
in this one's got a ball

in the drawer and then coins
in a drawer. Big coins,

- These are big discs.

Yeah, so perfect.

Then there's just for really
young babies grasping toys,

it's posting onto the different three

sticks, there we go. And then

- Always beautiful flowers
down low for our youngest kids.

And there's a mirror as well.

I have a rug that they can
lay out in this corner here.

I have our self-care area
where they can blow their nose

and use the little clips,
the little low mirror.

And there's also a felt board there,

which I change from time to time.

At the moment. There's some sea animals

- And
- Then our language corner is here.

So we start with objects on the top.

So in this suitcase is everything
that they might like to do

to go to the beach.

They can look at all the
objects around the house.

Then we have a basket of

- Musical instruments with
exactly the same pictures.

At the moment we have office supplies

with exactly the same pictures.

Construction vehicles
with similar pictures

and Australian animals
with similar pictures.

And then we have just
cards over this side.

You can see little roll mats
that they can roll out as well.

At the moment we have fruits and birds.

And then in these bags
they're stereo agnostic

bags, which are like mystery bags.

You can put your hands
in and feel around them.

So they're not specifically language,

but that's where they
just are located in our

classroom. And the

- Same for
- These up here.

This is our dressing frames, a zipper

- Buttons and a
- Clasp out at the moment.

- So the reason for this big change is

because I wanted to make this area

for our older kids a bit more off limits.

So you can see you shouldn't have any

of these materials in a toddler class.

Normally you can see the pink
tower and the brown stair

and the cylinder blocks
and the metal insets

getting ready for school.

But those materials are
really for older children.

And it's only because we
have children in our class

who are waiting to start school at four.

So we have a very small area
that's just for the older kids.

This here is our farm

and the ball track is great
just by the front door

where the children come in.

It's nice to ease 'em into the classroom.

Okay, so now I'll take one
pick back so you can see

where all layer fits together.

So you can see again the
eye hand coordination

activities along the right,
the iron craft to the back.

There's a nice big

construction going
outside, sorry about that.

The language corner.

And then through here we
go to our book corner.

Hi Bonnie, thanks for
joining Big heart eyes.

I know I love our little
classroom so much.

This is our cozy book corner.

We have a lovely mat that
we can lie on some beanbags,

a selection of Dutch and
English books and low artwork.

And there's always armchair
around here as well for them

to cozy up.

So this is a class for
parents and toddlers.

So they like to curl up
together, read books in here.

There are books that are based
often in reality like there's

a house inside my mommy's
about having a new baby, Fred,

the firefighter, about what he's doing.

Books with beautiful
pictures of under the ocean.

Mid in the is a night picture
with lots of things for them

to spot and lots of vehicle books,

simple stories and always really
beautiful engaging pictures

that you're happy to read
again and again and again

and again because we know
that toddlers like repetition.

Okay, so then we come through
this look corner into,

I won't Mind the tree, into our

music and movement area.

So yes, we have a beautiful
climbing wall, which is 1.2

by 2.4 for those who
are wanting to build it.

It's a piece of um, plywood.

And then you can buy the
grips from places like Amazon.

Okay, and then we have
a pickler triangle here,

which I originally just
had for the baby class,

but the toddlers love practicing on it.

You can see that there's some
tape on the second bottom rung

and that shows them where
they can put their feet

to climb over without
toppling over the top.

Hi Monica, thanks for joining.

And over here is musical instruments.

I have this inherited,
this beautiful melophone,

which is gorgeous, a music
puzzle, different shakers

and all types of instruments.

I also have a block corner here

for some more relaxing kind of play.

So that's good for gross motor movements.

And then these little
steps are great for babies

to practice walking, but the
toddlers also love them too

and they try to climb up there
with a jug in their hands

or look out the window
when they get to the top.

You can see some Dutch
houses across the way there.

So then if I spin back this way,

you can see we are now moving
into the practical life area

where they have the flower
ranging and hand washing

and our food preparation area

and all of the things for cleaning.

Oh, and I nearly forgot
our very famous cozy cube.

So the kids love exploring in here.

There's a hole there I've got inside.

So you can see, see
there's different levels

and then at the top
there's a hole as well.

Cool. Okay,

so let me show you first
over here the flower

ranging, they love this.

So if your children
like playing with water,

get a little jug of funnel, little vases

and then some doilies

and they can arrange 'em around the room.

There's lots of plants and a
watering can at the ready so

that they can water the plants.

This is our hand washing activities.

So for a young child who wants
to practice carrying water,

making bubbles, emptying
it into the bucket,

that's a great activity.

And then our food preparation activity.

So we moved it over this
side about six months ago

because we've moved to a group snack.

So this is around 10 30, which
is halfway through the class.

I get out these trays

and I sit on the little
chair in the U-shape

and children come and
help me prepare the snack

and we put it on the
plate for our friends.

And then at 11 o'clock
we sit down together.

So you can see that they help
me with the banana cutting

and cracker spreading

orange juicing.

The brand of this one is Metro Keen

'cause I'm sure people will ask .

It's a great solid orange juicer.

And this is for apple peeling and cutting.

And then you can see the
washing up activity over here,

a little menu and some

lovely art again at their low level.

And this is where we set the table.

So you can see the place
mats, it shows 'em exactly how

to set our materials.

And then there's always water
available if they wanna pour a

glass of water, face cloths
and table wiping cloths.

And then on the bottom
row we have real glasses.

'cause in Montessori we
like to use real glass.

It's much easier to pour into real

glass and tastes much better.

There's some cutlery, some
forks and spoons and the bowls

and there's some aprons
at the ready as well.

This is where they can
put any dirty cloths.

And we have a low sink down
here, which was actually amazing

'cause it was in the space when we got it.

But I changed the tap to one
that automatically cuts off

as well for obvious reasons.

When you have toddlers and water together,

this is the garbage bin
where they bring their peels

to when they're preparing
the food at a trolley

where they put the glasses on the

top, bowls in the middle.

And this is the window washing activity,

which we wash the windows of the doors.

And if I spin around this
way, you can see the lovely

dustpan mop at the ready

and there's a hanging mat there,

which is actually just a resting space.

So I um, I have got high
shelves here just for myself,

but I make them attractive with
plants and things like this.

So I'll just give you a
little overview of this room

from this side and this
bench in the middle is

for the parents to sit while
we are having the snack.

So that's the tour of the classroom.

Thank you everyone for joining me.

I hope that you found it useful

and may you have a
peaceful and lovely day.

Goodbye. .