Our Montessori and respectful parenting journey at home and on the way.
Recently, our family has gotten really into family board games! My son just turned 3 and one of the things I really went all out on for his birthday was board games. I got him several games and we have been playing them all the time since. Board games are a great way to connect with your child, work on math and reasoning skills, practice following rules and taking turns, and learn about sportsmanship.
I love real picture books. In general, babies tend to connect to them better than illustrated books. However, there are not a ton of real picture books available. Lovevery makes a gorgeous set but they are only available with a subscription. This blog post features our favorite real picture books that are not Lovevery. I have found more companies are producing real picture books recently, including some with more storylines. This is absolutely wonderful to see! These books I share below are, for the most part, not just books with real pictures and labels. They mostly have some sort of story, at least a very short poem throughout.
We recently started doing a letter of the week in our home with my nearly 3-year-old. I have gotten so many requests for what we do and how we structure it so I wanted to share some activities along with how we are doing letter activities in general.
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This guide provides 12 visual recipes designed especially for toddlers (well tested by my toddler) and written recipes for the grown-up. Recipes include no added sugar cookies, smoothies, guacamole, playdough, caramelized fruit, and more. It also includes over 150 ingredients, materials, and actions involved in cooking, a blank recipe template, and a visual shopping list. The ingredients, materials, and actions are Montessori-aligned using real photos. These can be used for language work and matching as well. This is a digital download. No physical product will be sent and since it is a digital download refunds are not accepted.
Bring beloved children’s books to life with visual recipes! The Book and Cook guide highlights 15 favorite children’s books, featuring a corresponding recipes for each one. These recipes are designed to allow your toddler to take the lead in the kitchen. They develop multiple pre-reading skills but use photos, making them accessible to young children who are not yet reading. Books featured include old classics like The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Blueberries for Sal along with modern classics such as The Bear Ate Your Sandwich. This is a digital download of visual recipes. Books are not included. No physical product will be sent.
About to welcome a new sibling and want to prepare your toddler? These are two Canva templates of the social stories we used to prepare my son for the birth of my daughter. You will receive a PDF with instructions and links to two Canva templates. You need a Canva account to access them. The templates can be used with a free account. There are some features that may not be fully available with the free account but would be with a free trial. No physical product will be sent. No returns accepted on digital products.
Our Favorite Products
These links are affiliate links. That means I get a small commission if you shop using my links. It does not change your price.
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Our Amazon Storefront
Shop our favorite products on Amazon. You will find many of the items we use, love, and share on Instagram here.
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Our Learning Tower
He joins us at the counter with our learning tower. We also love our floor table and floor beds. OnTheWay10 gives 10% off.
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Our Pikler
We have the jumbo Pikler. 10% off it or anything else from RAD Children’s furniture with the code OnTheWay.
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Our Favorite Toys
We have been Lovevery subscribers since Yitzchak’s birth and love all of their items. Nearly all of our toys are from Lovevery.
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Our Outdoor Gear
All the gear we use to get outside no matter the weather including rain gear, warm weather gear, and layers.
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Our Art Table
The small table we use for art and activities in the playroom. Also where we got bath supplies and our mobile hanger.
Top Blog Posts
This post has been a long time coming since I did my cooking with toddler series several months ago. Knives are an exciting tool for toddlers to use if introduced safely. Of course with all the tools I will discuss you should supervise your child closely. These tools are toddler-safe only when supervised. This post goes through how we introduced knives from 14 months through the knives he uses now at 2.5. It also discusses some of the progression of skills with the knives we introduced to our toddler.
Are you considering a Montessori floor bed? You’ve come to the right place! This post goes through why you should choose a Montessori floor bed and the best options on the market. Put simply, a Montessori floor bed refers to a low bed for a baby or toddler to use instead of a crib. They are lower than a toddler bed so that younger babies can safely use them.
My number one recommendation to purchase for cooking with toddlers is a learning tower or sous chef tower. These are a classic in the Montessori world because they allow toddlers to become more active participants in cooking. This item is, without question, our most loved baby item behind possibly the baby wrap.
How we hacked our Ikea play kitchen into a Montessori functional kitchen for our one-year-old! He loves the running water!
Over the last several months I feel like our home finally settled into a good rhythm. My son dropped his nap nearly half a year ago so that took some adjustments. While that has made my days a bit more exhausting, we’ve found a rhythm recently that works really well for our family.