Montessori bedroom: how to create it
Creating a Montessori room for your child means designing a tailor-made space, in which they can rest and grow, both physically and emotionally.
This bedroom is to be thought as a safe place where your children can move, explore and express themselves. For this reason the Montessori Bedroom is an evolving space, changing along with the children’s necessities, fostering emotional, sensory and cognitive development, according to Maria Montessori's principles.
Therefore, the creation of a Montessori bedroom requires a great amount of attention during the designing phase. You will need to follow some basic rules for space management, choose the forniture and the accessories carefully and be able to look ahead, considering the future development of the baby.
Let’s find out how.
Basic rules of the Montessori bedroom
As we have already mentioned, the Montessori bedroom follows some basic rules, designed to meet the children’s needs during all the stages of their growth.
In other words, a Montessori bedroom needs to have some basic features:
- safety;
- accessibility;
- being split in areas.
As in any child-friendly environment, safety is fundamental also in the Montessori room. It implies a special focus on the position of potential sources of danger, such as electrical sockets, edges, etc., and care in the choice of natural materials, in order to guarantee an healthy environment and strengthen the child's bond with nature.
As everything in the Montessori bedroom is designed to encourage the growth and well-being of the child, it is important that the rooms are structured according to their function:
- sleeping;
- getting dressed;
- feeding;
- activity.
Find out how to do this with the suitable furniture.
Montessori forniture and accessories
Forniture and accessories define the Montessori bedroom and the activities it is designed for.
What is important is always to create tender age friendly environments, furnished with furniture in natural materials, rounded corners and at their size.
It is with this purpose that Montessori-style children's bedroom furniture and accessories are designed:
- carpet;
- low cot without bars;
- low wardrobe or stand;
- front bookcase;
- shelves or baskets for toys;
- table and chair
- mirror;
- decorations.
If they want to, children need to be able to go to bed and get up independently; therefore, low, fall-proof beds should be recommended, instead of the classic solution with bars.
The carpet is the soft space where the little ones have the chance to play freely on the ground, read and relax. You’ll be surprised to realise how many activities they will be able to manage within its perimetre.
As soon as they get a little older, in order for them to be able to dress independently, it is essential that the wardrobe is low.
The bookcase and shelves too, should be at their height, so that they can be autonomous in picking up books and toys. Otherwise you can store toys and books in a basket.
Low table and chair represent another space for autonomous activities, while the mirror encourages theexploration of the surrounding environment and also helps children become aware of their own image.
The room, sober and in delicate shades, should be decorated with small paintings or natural representations.
Montessori Bedroom according to the age
The Montessori Bedroom changes along with the age of the children: from the children's first ability to move, to crawling, to the acquisition of more advanced movement control, spaces and forniture follow the children’s development and ensure order and calm.
To this purpose it is advisable to opt for:
- the same organisation of space at least during the first year;
- minimal forniture, which is easy to tidy up;
- limited choice of toys, books and objects, which are to be changed on a regular basis;
- soft colours that convey a sense of tranquillity.
Therefore the Montessori bedroom of an infant is different from a Montessori bedroom of a one-year-old and even more different from the one of a pre-school or school-age child.
Their world grows around them. They will be able to access the highest shelves of their wardrobes or their bookcases, or you will have the chance to decide whether to change the old forniture chosen for the newborn, opting for age-appropriate solutions.
Over time, the carpet play area will also become a space for reading or gymnastics on the floor, and the low table with its small chair can be replaced by a larger alternative.
Even the mirror, which is placed horizontally in the Montessori nursery of a newborn or one-year-old child, should later be arranged vertically to allow a more accurate awareness of their body.
In this way, you understand, how the Montessori bedroom is a constantly evolving place which helps the child progress smoothly along a path of growth and autonomy. It is easy to create it, choosing simple, quality furniture and accessories designed for the little ones at home: like those in the Kaladomus Mimmamamma.