Why should you setup a home Environment for kids?
It is said that a child’s development is highly dependent on the environment in which it lives. Children between the age of 0-6 have an absorbent mind. What does that mean? Their mind is like a sponge, that absorbs everything from the environment. Just like you have a “Chitti Robot” at home and beware everything is being recorded and stored in subconscious mind.
I would say, I have become highly disciplined after becoming a parent😂
I am not frightening you. But just telling you the make the best use of this phase. I know many parents are intrigued to do it, but do not know how to setup an environment that is child friendly. Many parents I have met, think setting up a Montessori environment at home is going to shoot a big hole in their pocket. It’s truly a myth. Montessori is not just about materials,but it is a way of living. If you are not understanding the underlying philosophy and merely setting up activities,then what you are doing is not Montessori. Don’t worry.. This post is going to be your one stop guide for everything you need to setup a home environment with the all the links to buy the products. So let’s get started.
Let us first divide our kids room into four corners.
1.Activity corner
2.Reading corner
3.Music corner
4. Art corner
Also decide the color of your kid’s room. The color of the room is of prime importance as it should not distract the kids. Lots of jarring colors irritate them and every color has a color psychology behind it. So choose mild colors. Since my daughter likes pink, I have chosen mild pink color for her room. Pink is also known as a mentally calming color. The environment should be built in such a way that it is conducive for their growth.
Activity corner
Why should you do activities with your kids?
I have seen many moms thinking on the same line, is activities really worth its time.Why not, allow them to enjoy their childhood. Why should we stress on learning when they are going to do this throughout their life. The answer is here…
A child is capable of learning anything and everything on Earth from the age of 0-6..As their mind is like a sponge, if we give them the best to learn, it is going to benefit them throughout their life. Do not always think of buying fancy toys and setting up shelves.
Say, a simple practical life activity like pounding, scooping, pouring, transferring is going to do a perfect job and it keeps them occupied for hours together.
Doing activity doesn’t mean they are not allowed to play or socialize with friends. Play is a child’s work. By setting up activities we are not going to test their skills, but build them. A child’s physical development and mental development should go hand in hand. So give some outdoorsy play and do some simple activities at home instead of giving them screen time. Also these activities promote independence. A child is able to handle the material on it’s own. This builds a happy and confident child.
So where to get started? Setup an activity shelf.
Philosophy behind activity shelf setup
An activity shelf serves their most essential PSYCHOLOGICAL need, the order. A child will pick up a tray with both hands and once she has done playing with it, she will put it back in the same place. She can always find it in the same place. This gives a sense of security to the child. You might have always noticed, children sense even the minute changes in the environment. They might throw a tantrum if any object is not found or misplaced.
It is because of their sensitiveness to order. If everything is in order, you can find a child calm and happy.
“… nature endows a child with a sensitiveness to order. It is a kind of inner sense that distinguishes the relationships between various objects rather than the objects themselves. … Such an environment provides the foundation for an integrated life.” – Maria Montessori, The Secret of Childhood, p. 55
You need not spend on fancy activity shelf. I have re purposed an old wardrobe as Montessori shelf. The top portion, I use to store all the supplies required to setup activities on a daily basis and the bottom part I use as Montessori Shelf.
All you need two to three shelves with partitions. Child should be able to freely pick up the material and put it back without any hassles. See what works best for you.
If you want to buy one, you can find them in the link below.
Note: This post is not sponsored.
https://kidoenterprises.com/cabinet-shelves-with-2-partitions/
In the activity corner you can setup many activities which can be mostly based on the following.
Practical Life: Pouring, scooping, transferring, screwing and unscrewing of lids, cutting, sewing, sticking,sweeping,mopping, etc.. Basically everything that they find in their day to day activities.
You would not believe, children love such activities as it involves a lot of repetition. Children learn a skill through repetition.
Do not help them or instruct them on how to do activities. This will spoil their enthusiasm. You can silently demonstrate or present the material once using slow and steady movements. Children should be able to absorb your movements. Once you present the material, silently observe the child from a distance. Interrupt only when the child is misusing the material.
So this will help them a lot in developing fine motor skills(Any of the motor skills that require greater control of the small muscles than large ones, esp. for hand-eye coordination or for precise hand and finger movement.) This forms the basis of writing. Once their muscles are well developed they can write easily.
Sensorial: You can setup activities that improve their sensory perception. For example: Smelling tray(Olafactory sense)..Have different essential oils in small bottles. Help them identify the smell. You can also have tasting trays(Gustatory sense), mystery bags with shapes(Stereognostic sense), pairing same colors(visual sense), touching different types of fabrics(tactile sense)etc.. These are simple and easy to setup at home.
Reading corner
Books always tell something about us. They helps us connect with our inner self and the environment.
Books are a great source of knowledge without any harmful effects of television and mobile. Prolonged exposure to TV and mobile affects children’s cognitive skills.
But books are truly a treasure. Reading books to children that helps them connects with the environment and becomes an apt medium to explain even complex concepts.
Real life Example
My daughter was afraid of wearing shoes.. No matter how hard I try, she was afraid because she felt her legs are disappearing when she wore it and she might not be able to walk without legs. I tried explained her calmly but in vain.So, I bought a touch and feel book that talks about the different types of shoes, how it protects us, how beautiful it looks on us.. This book made her fall in love with it, and now we have 20 pairs of shoes. Books help you easily model their behavior. Read at least one book everyday. When you read a book to the child, always keep the child facing the book. Then just read and do not translate it to them. Let them enjoy the language, the diction in which you read and the eye catching illustrations will help them imagine the story. Soon you will find an ardent reader engrossed in books. Children love books and soon you could find them relating a lot of things from books in real life. Let us pass on the love of reading books to children without any expectations. Read just for the joy of reading.
You can give them a lot of books that improves their sensorial perception like touch and feel books, cloth books, etc..This helps them build an interaction with the book and they enjoy it the most. Books help to improve their concentration too..
I am doing Montessori activities for my daughter and I upload it in YouTube channel. I do a lot of activities for every letter sound, read lots of books with her and setup pretend play stations that we enjoy the most. You can check it out from the link below. I talk about a lot of books in every video. I have attached one video here to help you get an idea. You can subscribe so that you can follow the whole series.
Music Corner
Children are born with a musical bias. It fosters a lot of creativity and it is an artistic form of self expression.
Their taste is pure and untainted, just not like us based on favoritism, stars, reviews ,etc
Give them the music you love, because when they see you enjoying it, they naturally imitate it.
Child learns through imitation.The best thing is they are not going to comment on your voice or judge you. They are going to sing along and enjoy it the way you do.. Introduce them to good music and take them to concerts, festivals and live performances. Have a song for everything like doing dishes, cooking, cleaning.. This helps them widen their spectrum of creativity and they will amaze you with beautiful songs. If you are not comfortable singing songs, then you can play in a Bluetooth speaker. Do not encourage them to watch on television or mobile. That’s going to hamper the whole process. Play some musical instruments with them. You need not be an expert. Just enjoy the process. A simple xylophone/ mouth organ will do..
Art Corner
Art is a beautiful form of self expression. Art helps children invent new ways of thinking and it also improves their fine motor skills. I bought an easel when my daughter was 1.5 years old. From then on, I have seen her illustrating a lot of daily events, her school,birds,animals and now she is able to create her own stories. It is truly a blissful moment to watch her telling all cute mom and daughter stories.
India is always known for protraying it’s cultural and traditional vibrancy through folk art. Every part of India,has a unique style and pattern of art known as folk art. Some of the most popular ones are Madhubani,Warli,Lippan,Pattachitra,Tanjore painting,etc.. Exposing children at an earlier age to such rich traditional art work which will inspire them and boost their creativity.
Art acts as an medium to express their feelings and also it acts as a means of non verbal communication.
In this digital era, it is essential for our children to be very creative, as there are increasing problems which affects us in an incredible way and require innovative solutions.
Exposure to art builds that creativity.
PROMOTE INDEPENDENCE
The environment we build at home should nurture our child’s psychological needs.
For example, Place a hook like this at one corner of the room. Your child can daily hang their school bags there. This addresses their inner call for order in the environment. Such simple things make a huge change in their life.
An organised child is always a happy child.
Conclusion
I am quoting a sample budget below to help you get an idea of how much the whole setup will cost.
Activity Shelf-Rs.3000-5000-https://kidoenterprises.com/cabinet-shelves-with-2-partitions/
Bookshelf-Rs2000-https://amzn.to/382HleX
Easel-Rs.2000-4000-https://amzn.to/3bfTY8f
Books-2000(Find preloved books group in FB. You can get books by weight at cheaper price)
Activities(Toys)-2000
It will cost around 10 to 15k approximately to setup this environment. But consider this as an investment for your child’s life.
Once you give a healthy environment for the child you will see a calm,happy and a super confident blossoming adult
MommyReturns 