The Montessori birthday walk has become a favorite birthday tradition in our home. This is our third time doing it and I look forward to many more times. The Montessori birthday walk is a bit different for a first birthday because obviously, even the most concrete concepts about seasons and birthdays are meaningless to them. Also, neither of my babies have walked on their first birthday. But still, I find the Montessori birthday walk is a meaningful way to remember my babies’ first year on earth.

If you’re looking for a first birthday smash cake without the processed sugar, this is the one! We have done several first birthday cakes and I would say this is the easiest and incredibly tasty. It is sweetened with banana and has a fantastic moist texture. My real achievement this time was making a solid frosting for the rainbow cake without powdered sugar or food coloring.

I am so excited for the Montessori-aligned first birthday gifts we ended up choosing for our baby. I think they’re a great mix of things that will grow with her and she will enjoy with her big brother. So here’s the list of our favorite Montessori-inspired first birthday gifts. Some of them are even so good we bought them for my son and are buying again for our daughter.