What Montessori Activities to Do with a 18 - 21 Month Old Toddler
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Your eighteen-month-old is busy as a bee. He wants to do everything he sees you doing. This is a great time to introduce the first practical life activities to your toddler. He can start helping you with simple food preparation, cleaning, and other everyday activities. For example, pouring water into his cup, wiping spills, and loading laundry. To prevent frustration on both sides, check this blog post which will give you helpful tips on how to get started.
This might be the best time if you haven’t started toilet learning yet. Your toddler is interested in learning to take care of his body at this age. And he is still very open to your guidance in learning this new skill. If you start toilet learning, it might take up most of your time with your toddler. Remember that toilet learning is equally as important as any other skill your child is working on when using his Montessori toys.
MONTESSORI TOYS FOR 18 - 21 MONTHS:
Top shelf left to right: Stack and sort board, Opening and Closing, Sorting, Matching, Nuts and bolts, Building blocks
You don’t need to show your toddler how to use this toy. She’ll pick up a ring and place it on a peg. First, she might not be interested in sorting the rings by color, and that’s okay. Let her figure it out by herself.
Avoid using this toy to introduce numbers.
Other pegging and stacking toys will most likely captivate your toddler’s attention for an extended time. This stack and sort board was Emma’s number one activity for many weeks.
Opening and Closing
Another simple DIY activity that is popular among babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. It’s opening and closing various containers.
The best thing about this activity is that you can probably put it together in a few minutes using stuff you have in your own home.
Find more about this activity HERE.
This sorting toy is a great example of how the first sorting for toddlers can be set up. The bowls are the same except for color. And the wooden coins (chips) that go with them also differ only in color.
If you decide to make your own color sorting, keep the following in mind. The objects your child will be sorting need to be the same (same size, shape..) except for color. Sorting different objects (for example, buttons and beads) would be too confusing for young toddlers.
To simplify this work, I started with three bowls first (the primary colors) and three coins of each color. You can add more bowls and coins as your toddler gets the hang of it.
Another favorite activity is matching. I got our matching circles on Etsy.
Again, I simplified it to the needs of a young toddler. We started with only 4-5 pairs. In the beginning, Emma wasn’t that interested in matching, but she enjoyed lining the circles up. A couple of weeks later, she was ready to start matching.
The matching circles are beautifully made and can be used with an older child as a memory game.
This toy helps refine your toddler’s eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills.
It might be too challenging to screw the nut on the bolt first. If so, leave the nut on the bolt to avoid too much frustration.
For the initial introduction, I chose just one nut and bolt. Later on, I added more to the basket.
This particular toy is great because it comes with pattern cards. Once your toddler is a preschooler, he might rediscover this toy and enjoy creating different patterns.
Toddler building blocks
You most likely won’t find blocks in a traditional Montessori classroom. But they provide a wonderful invitation for open-ended play. The child explores sensorially different mathematical concepts while using these blocks.
Blocks for a young toddler need to be small enough to fit their little hands. If possible, choose blocks of the same color.
In the beginning, offer just a few blocks. Later on, you can add more.
Note: Our shelf is here just for your inspiration. You don’t need all these toys, and your toddler might not enjoy all of them. Observe your child first and see what she needs and what she is interested in. Also, remember that your toddler might be ready for some of the toys earlier or later.
What are your toddler’s favorite toys? Please share them in the comments.
More Montessori activities: