Montessori is all about creating a calm, comfortable environment for the child to explore and that fosters independence. A part of creating this environment is hanging art at a child’s eye level, for them to enjoy.
It makes a lot of sense. Decorators are always telling us artwork is best appreciated at eye level, or 60 inches for an average height adult. Kids are a lot smaller than that; their eye level is closer to 30 inches, depending on age/height. Hanging artwork low, especially in their rooms or above a toy shelf, gives them a chance to actually see it.
I’ve really enjoyed putting up art for Bean all around the apartment. First in her nursery, then next to her dining table and kitchen shelves. Just like in an adult-sized world, the low artwork helps pull her mini decor together and helps create attractive little spaces. These are all miniature vignettes; some of this artwork only reaches up to my shins.
By using velcro 3M strips and light-weight plexiglass Ikea frames, I can plop the artwork down on any wall, safely hung without glass, nails or picture wire. When she grows and the artwork needs to grow with her, it’s easy enough to pull it off the wall and reposition. (Of course, when she was a small toddler, she’d also pull the artwork off the wall since it was so easy. If she pulled it off to take a better look at it (bring it to the floor and then really inspect it), I’d sit back and watch then put it back into place when she was done. If she just pulled it off in a fit of toddler destruction, I’d remind her that we don’t do that. She eventually stopped doing it.)
She has always liked looking at the artwork, and when she was very little, she’d ask me to tell stories about the people/animals/scenery in the paintings. These days, she gets really excited when she sees something new is going up, purely for the enjoyment of having something pretty to look at.
