Currently on our shelves..

When Ella was five months old, I started searching for balance in our lives.  At that time, I was introduced to my first Montessori book, Montessori from the Start.  Loving the concepts and yearning for order in my life, I immediately began preparing the environment to better meet her developmental needs and my need for order.

At seventeen months, Ella started at the local Montessori school three hours a day/five days a week. At home, I support the fundamentals as best I can.

Had some left over wood from the animal tree house project, so I made a natural matching game.  Thought about painting the shapes, but since I recently made the colorful play mat with bright matching colors, I decided to keep it simple.  

Polishing activity using natural, non-toxic wood and block oil 

Colors and coloring books

Small muscle development (grasping and hand-eye coordination) using large lima beans

Puzzles

Stickers

Homemade playdough
 recipe:  http://asmalltribe.blogspot.com/2008/11/with-our-hands.html

Water pouring activity

Rubber bands (refined hand movements and hand-eye coordination practice)

Objects on stationary vertical dowels (more hand-eye coordination along with finger positioning and grasping)

Moveable vertical dowel

Nesting boxes

Homemade activities seem to be her favorite.  She plays with these for 20 minutes at a time.  

Finger puppets (repurposed old photo holder)

Tops...I made the two smaller wooden tops by cutting a dowel 3" and sharpening one end with a pencil sharpener.  Then, slid a prepackaged disk (found at Michaels or Hobby Lobby) over the dowel close to the tip for just the right spin.  They look nice natural, too, but I chose to paint bright colors.

Doll play

Music is part of her daily life...and I don't have a musical bone in my body.  I provide instruments for her to explore, and if she remains interested...we will call on professionals;).