Good morning!
I wanted to share an update on James’s nursery today. I set up his toy shelf before he was born, but it was really just for looks in the first few months. In the last month or so though, James has been much more interested in toys.
He is all about using his hands and bringing things to his mouth these days. Now that he actually plays with the toys on his shelf, I try to rotate a few of them at the beginning of each week. Here’s a snapshot of what’s on his shelf now at five and a half months.
As a side note, Montessori has a big emphasis on using natural materials and I hope to collect some small baskets and wooden trays to hold his toys. In the meantime I’m using these colorful boxes my Mom had from Birchbox. I got the idea to use these as storage from The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
This basket of books is the newest addition to his shelf and I am absolutely loving it. There is a closet with built-in shelves right outside James’s room and we keep his books there. However, I’ve been remembering to read to him a lot more now that there are a few right there on his shelf. I rotate these each week, except for Goodnight Moon, which is a permanent staple as we read it each night before bed. This basket is right next to the glider so it is super easy to sit with him there and choose a book to read.
Gund Fuzzy Frog
This has a special place in my heart because I spent way too long browsing stuffed animals and trying to pick the perfect one for him while I was pregnant. He does not yet show any particular attachment to a stuffed animal, but he does seem to enjoy reaching for them and “wrestling” them.
I love these because I think they’re adorable, but I also like that each one offers a different way to grip and a different level of challenge. For instance, James could grasp the mushroom right away when we gave him these at 3 months old, but the tomato and radish are more difficult.
This Etsy shop has some other really beautiful wooden and crochet toys as well.
Montessori Grasping Toys
These are classic Montessori baby toys, gifted to me by the head of school where I taught. The one with two discs is great for passing back and forth from hand to hand and James loves to hold the one with wooden beads and work one of the beads into his mouth.
This seems to be one of James’s favorites.
It is easy to grasp, but also interesting as it bends and has lots of fun colors. I love Haba toys in general.
Haba Rainbow Ball
Another Haba favorite. I love this ball because it has lots of interesting textures and colors. It also rolls away, but not too far, so James can still see it and reach for it.
When James is a little older and can crawl over to the shelf by himself, I will likely have fewer items on each tray (for instance, one or two vegetable rattles instead of all of them). At this point though, I’m just bringing him the toys, so I can bring him one at a time.
If you have children, do you have any baby toys you recommend?
Are you more of a minimalist or do you like to fill your house with many things you love?