Our Montessori Shelf at 11 Months

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Interest in shelf work has really taken off this month. At 10 months Y was almost exclusively interested in gross motor work and being held. This month he began ball posting in his object permanence box, stacking things, and putting the rings on the ring stacker.

Y’s Montessori shelf at 11 months has some of the old standbys that have been on for awhile (a basket of balls, a basket of teethers, and his ever-present favorite rainbow drum. We also added a few new things this month for his 11-month Montessori shelf. Y has two main shelves: his shelf in his bedroom and his shelf in the living room. For awhile I was putting open-ended toys in his bedroom and making the living room his Montessori shelf but have been experimenting with other options since that didn’t work so well for us.

Y figured out how to post balls in the object permanence box. Since he is still engaged with the original object permanence box I kept it out on his living room shelf. I put the more advanced object permanence box on his bedroom shelf. He loves that box but is not using it for ball-posting as much. He loves to open and close the door.

Y also began posting the rings on his ring stacker this month. Since he mastered the single largest ring I added the second ring on the stacker. Once he masters that I will add the third. It provides a greater challenge since the smaller rings are more advanced for fine-motor skills and because he must pay attention to order and put the larger ring on first.

I observed my son trying to stack things so I brought out his stacking stones which are now on his bedroom Montessori shelf. I had rotated out the little canisters for awhile but I brought them back in and put crinkle paper in for him to explore. He is still enjoying his single-piece puzzle and working towards putting the piece back on so it remains on his living room shelf.

I brought out the rattle with balls in it so he could roll it on his wobble board. He has been enjoying that. He also is more interested in the rattle itself than I expected, trying to get the balls out (which he obviously can’t do).

Though not on our Montessori shelf, another two new items this month are his baby doll (from Lovevery) and his radio flyer walker wagon. He isn’t really using the walker wagon for walking but he loves sitting in it and being pushed. Since he doesn’t like swings or the stroller anymore I take that as a win even if it means walking him around in it in circles in our small apartment. He loves his baby doll and learned the word “baby” for it very quickly. If we ask him to find his baby doll he will go look for it no matter where he is. He also loved the bead maze at grandma and grandpa’s this month. We will be moving it to our place soon.

In terms of DIY Montessori activities this month I created another version of the treasure basket. On this one, I put items inside and put painter’s tape over it making it a toy escape. This was similar to my rubberband one but for those worried about the safety of the rubberbands is a great option. We also have been doing a lot of language activities. I will introduce two items and ask him to get me one. We also have continued to do activities where he finds the cheerios under one of two cups.

As always we are reading a lot. Y is loving reading more than ever, both us reading to him and “reading” by himself. We are also doing our usual rough-and-tumble play which is always a hit and lots and lots of peekaboo. I also always leave his drum and maracas out. They get use daily which has me very excited for some of his first birthday gifts!