How to Choose Montessori Toys for 2 Year Olds?

Any parent with a 2-year-old may be able to search for toys and other forms of entertainment for their children that will help them learn through play. That’s why the advantages of applying Montessori for toddlers and how to choose the proper Montessori toys for a 2-year-old is something that cannot be neglected at any cost. Montessori is an approach to education with a different vision based on independence, sensible materials, and the child as a whole individual. Explaining the use of Montessori when selecting toys for your active toddler can get you on the right path.

By the end of this blog, you will learn all the tips and tricks for choosing a suitable Montessori toy for your child. So, let’s begin.

The Montessori method is one of the oldest methods of teaching which was introduced more than a century ago by Dr. Maria Montessori, a qualified doctor in Italy who was among the first women doctors in Italy. Later in her practice, while working with children categorized as Developmental Intellectual Disabilities, she realized that the children learned effectively through concrete manipulation of objects and not by being told. She continued and started schools with this idea as a foundation, these are commonly referred to as Montessori schools.

The Montessori classroom is designed in an environment that enables children to select the activities they would like to engage in, make their own decisions and learn through play. A child’s curiosity is the main focus, with the teacher only closely watching the child’s progress. The core of the Montessori approach is based on the principles that children construct knowledge through the manipulation of objects and individual sensory experiences at the time of sensitive periods.

Part of the learning activities connected with Montessori Materials is the

• Special periods for development for different children's activities such as order, movement, language, etc.

• The activities are physically engaging, and many incorporate wooden objects to manipulate. Children’s interests and choices are catered for by having materials set at low, open shelves to encourage independence.

• The idea is to permit choice of activity to the maximum extent possible for the child.

When shopping for Best Montessori Toys for 2 Year Olds look for the following:

Open-Ended

Unlike the boxes look like a dog, Montessori materials are not images but rather simple neutral ones. This can promote pretend play as they can be used to represent many things to a child.

Hands-On

These toys will enable toddlers to explore them through touch, holding them and experimenting as how they can manipulate them and how they can manipulate the toys. The toys that should be included are those with knobs to turn, doors to open, beads to slide, shapes to sort, etc.

Self-Correcting & Limited

Most Montessori materials are used so that the child can easily identify success or failure immediately. They are also limited to ensure that the activity has a start, middle, and end, kind of like a game. This creates order and a feeling of having achieved something.

Isolates a Specific Skill/Concept

In a Montessori system, quality materials concern one concept at a time, such as size discrimination, color recognition, sound distinction, etc. This simplifies concepts and makes them possible for toddlers to master.

Encourages Repetition

Infants require constant reinforcement to engage in activities to ensure that they grasp concepts and the required skills. Montessori toys are designed to enable repetition of a given task without restricting the child’s options.

Adjustable Difficulty Level

Most Montessori toys, such as inset puzzle boards and stacking toys, have simple and complex types. This allows the same set of materials to evolve with your toddler’s developing capabilities.

Durable & Child-Sized

Choose toys that are made from natural wood than inorganic plastic toys. Ensure that pieces are large enough for a two-year-old child to handle and not easily dropped or ingested. Is your child physically capable of moving, lifting and replacing the materials on his or her own?

Promotes Real-World Experiences 

Unlike other school systems, Montessori employs real-life household items and other common materials as much as possible. Toy pieces will look quite familiar, making it easier for the child to learn some of the practical skills.

As for the Montessori toys and activities, they foster the development of toddlers during this period of sensitive development. Benefits include:

Toddlers undergo a developmental stage where they want to gain control over their surroundings. Children are allowed to select materials and activities on their own, to guide their own learning process and engage in activities that are defined as ‘by myself’ which enhances self-esteem and intrinsic motivation.

Toddlers are generally not very patient, but they are able to focus intently when they are occupied with something they find fascinating. Since the Montessori toys encourage repetition, children are able to develop concentration skills and the basics of school readiness. 

Handling objects allows toddlers to grasp aspects such as size, shape, color, texture, sound, etc. Montessori also provides toddlers with opportunities to engage in active manipulation of learning materials as they please.

Some of these Montessori items require the use of hands, such as sorting objects, moving objects with tweezers or droppers, buttoning, and tying, among others. These types of toys enhance hand-eye coordination and control.

Here are ten of our top Montessori-inspired toy recommendations to boost your two year old’s development:

A shape sorter box or puzzle board with matching wooden shapes, such as the  Leaf Puzzle,  helps children learn about shapes, fine motor skills, problem-solving, and spatial relations. The  stackable wooden box  in multiple colors and sizes can also engage your child's mind and develop cognitive skills. 

Placing numerical coins and sorting color-resemblance tasks, buttons, or beads into a rainbow board with various opening and closing holes helps develop concentration, order, and fine motor skills. The Toys that can play an immense role in it are

Numerical Stepping Stones: The child can carry the beads using fingers, a wooden spoon, or a chopstick.

Colors Matching Game: Matches of Colors game fosters the ability to distinguish between shades of a given color.

Wooden Rainbow Bead Block Toy: Sensory wooden number cards with colorful beads that slide up and down to teach counting and improve hand strength.

Snap-together puzzles (2-4 pieces) depict animals, transportation, fruits, etc. The exercises enhance fine motor skills and visual-spatial abilities. Such as

Weather Rainbow Puzzle: Playing with the pieces develops the strength of small hand muscles, and planning where each segment fits also improves spatial awareness. Exploring the vocabulary of meteorology brings new concepts into the discourse. The illustrations are comical in nature and foster creativity and imagination about the scenes depicted. Putting the parts together brings satisfaction as if one has completed a task.

Montessori Toys to Help Your Child Learn in many ways that one can’t imagine. Look at the toy cart to see which fits you best.

This is a dramatic play unit with birch wood that enhances children's cognitive development through play, mathematics, and puppet theater narration.

This fun kit develops balance, coordination, and confidence as children construct formations with arches, wavy beams, ramps, etc. Squeezing between the wooden beams sharpens fine motor skills, concentration, thinking, and self-educational creativity.

The Montessori Joy Toy Shelf is a three-shelves birchwood toy storage rack designed to teach children about tidiness in their playtime activities. It has soft edges to prevent injuries, a modern design for small hands with an open back, and a sturdy construction that will seamlessly blend with any home setting while teaching children how to think and act systematically.

The Solaris solar system model is a Montessori toy in the form of a globe that introduces children to astronomical facts. It illustrates the relative sizes of the planets and their positions around the sun on a wooden board in the form of an enlarged ball. More beads depict the moons. This concrete-sensory model engages children’s interests in space science ideas.

Isla PlaySlide is a two-in-one toy with a slide where a child can engage in physically creative play. It also has a drawing center where a child can color, paint, and draw. It lets the children slide up and down; it even comes with a chalkboard and a magnetic dry-erase board that can help enhance the children's creativity and improve their motor skills.

At Kinderhuis, we develop toys that are appropriate toys for toddlers promote independence, exploration of the environment and objects, repetition, and development across domains. Employing the Montessori principles as our compass when choosing play materials for your 2-year-old will benefit them during the critical developmental period of 24-36 months.

Try to offer your very active toddler open-ended constructive toys and materials that stir the curiosity and the desire in the child to say ‘I will do it myself’ and thus enabling your child to be independent and to take the leading role in his learning.