Here are some Montessori trays that have been a hit around here recently. I started some of them more than half a year ago, and Bean continues to be very into them. Others, she is still struggling with, which I think is the mark of a good toy!

Bean has two shelves in our living room for toys — I try to keep the spread evenly split between traditional toys and these trays. I’d say the trays hold her interest longer (per play session in addition to over the course of days before I rotate out with a fresh batch of toys.) And, as you’ll see, sometimes she ends up incorporating her traditional toys into her Montessori trays to create new games to play.

From the top:

1. Bead transfer — the point is to use the spoon to transfer the beads from one bowl to the next. I use plastic or wicker bowls when I’m not too interested in monitoring her, but the glass gives her a very satisfying PLINK PLINK sound as she drops them into the bowl.

2. Bead threading — Here, I’ve switched out one of the bowls and added larger beads. The point is to thread the beads onto the skewer — fine motor skills. I dulled the end of the skewer so it’s not pointy and wrapped the end of the skewer with electrical tape to keep the beads from falling off. In her Montessori class, the teacher used a pipe cleaner instead of a skewer, which would require less monitoring. But, the pipe cleaner was a little too complicated for Bean just yet (because it bends). Skewer it is for the time being. Bean will stack the beads on her skewer and then sit back and admire her work. Pretty adorable.

3. Letter matching — Bean is very into identifying letters these days, but only really knows the letter S. She will point to BART signs, advertisements, store windows, etc pointing at the letters and guessing what letter it is. So, this is a little “follow the child” kind of tray, since that’s what she seems to be interested in. Bean received a toy that included these cute wood letters in it for Christmas. I’ve paired it laminated alphabet cards. I only put out about 5 letters at a time. This tray is fairly difficult for her.

4. Clothespins — I took this idea from Bean’s Montessori class. The point here is to clip the clothespins onto the edge of the glass bowl. This is very hard for Bean — her pincer grip is just getting strong enough to open the clothespin. And then pinching together one side in order to open up the other side, and then position it over the bowl and release? It’s actually a pretty complex task.

5. Punching out paper — This is also an idea from her Montessori class. The task is fairly simple and straightforward — use the punch to punch out shapes and put the shapes in the bowl. At first, I would put the paper in the punch for her. It took Bean a few days to figure out that she needed to press really hard. Now, she’s working on how to line up the paper in the punch herself. It’s difficult.

6. Animal matching — Bean created this tray. She also received these awesome animals for Christmas and she is obsessed with them. I have a set of matching cards featuring wild animals. She pulled together the set of matching cards and now matches her animals to the laminate cards. She’s on my case to make her more laminate cards for her other animals. (“No frog? No frog. NO FROG.”

7. Spray bottle cleaning — Another idea taken from her Montessori class. It’s a very small spray bottle (good for little hands) filled with water, paired with a cloth. You teach the child how to spray a surface (mirrors work well) and then wipe the water off. This is about a half hour of fun right here. I always keep this basket accessible to her in the kitchen; she runs for it every time she sees me spraying down any surface.

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Want to read more? Check out: The Montessori Tray: Or, How to create a superfun new toy out of a whisk and pompoms.