Toy shelf is coming!
I'm so thrilled.. we ordered a toy shelf for Adelaide last night! :) (Quite spontaneously, found a good deal and bought it, hope it doesn't disappoint us.)
Why is a simple thing like a shelf so important?
For now her toys and stuff are in a toy box. Well, just a box. We already have so many of them (I still have bought only one, others are gifts or hand-me-downs), that need to put them all somewhere, so I put them in a box, near her activity area. For now.
The thing is, toy boxes are not nice. They are nice for adults, maybe, because we can just pick up all the stuff and throw it in a box, so our living area is all clean again. But it's not nice for children.
For me it seems simple.. Would you like all your stuff, everything you need and use, thrown in one big box, in one big mess? So that you can't find, what you need, when you need it? With no respect to you or your things? I don't think so.
For adults, viewing the child's toys as just some crap you can scoop all up, it shouldn't really be that way. First of all, you should have only things that you value. And want to use. (Your child to use.) And then it's only logical to threat them respectfully.
I call them "Montessori shelves". As in Montessori especially they stress the importance of displaying Montessori materials neatly. Not only neatly, but there is a whole system, how you should display them. (For example, all the materials that are needed for a certain task, are in one nice box, that is put nicely in the shelf.)
But it's not only Montessori, also Waldorf has their toys arranged nicely. In shelves, also in some nice baskets and boxes. Everything has it's place.
Actually it's like that in any place, that respects the children.
(Some stuff, of course, can also be in boxes.. Like a box for building blocks, or a box for balls and so on.)
Most importantly just, that there wouldn't be a mess. A child also can't find, what he needs and when he needs it.. He wouldn't even, most likely, play with the things that are in the bottom of the box. Children simply can't remember they have those things.. (It would be same with adults.) They need to have their things seen, so they would invite them and provoke their interest.
And even if they do remember about the toy under all the other things.. Then the result is, they need to flip all the box over, to get to it. And there's the mess.
Having shelves, where toys are displayed nicely, helps to have some order in the house and play area. Simply, every time child takes something and plays with it, once he's done, you put it back. Right away and when child sees you doing it. (Not when he's asleep.) At first the parent needs to do it. But sooner than you think, child follows your example, and has learned a lifelong skill of putting things, that he doesn't need anymore, back in their place. Without asking him to do it, without having to "clean up".
(I have seen my friend being very successful with this. Her boy put his toys nicely back, without being asked to do so, I think when he was under 1 year. And once, when visiting our place, he took a remote, played with it, and once they were leaving, he put it back exactly where he had taken it from!) :)
Our baby's "activity corner" - a space for her - we started creating before she was born. There is a carpet (in a neutral color, gray - a big mistake is to have too colorful "activity carpets" for children. How can a child concentrate on her toys on it, if the toys and the background as well are colorful? It's distracting), the mirror (which has been seen in previous posts), and her toy box. But soon there will be a shelf instead of the box.
At first it didn't matter that much. But now she can already see quite far, and soon she can move herself to reach the thing she wishes. At first she will be able to use the lowest shelf, but when she starts lifting up, then also others.
For now her play area is in our living room. For some time it will be enough. As she anyway wants to be near us, and she doesn't have (or need) that much of things yet. The plan is to create a play room for her sometime, in a couple of years, instead of our bedroom downstairs. When she will have more stuff, they will not anymore fit so well in our small living room.
Why is a simple thing like a shelf so important?
For now her toys and stuff are in a toy box. Well, just a box. We already have so many of them (I still have bought only one, others are gifts or hand-me-downs), that need to put them all somewhere, so I put them in a box, near her activity area. For now.
The thing is, toy boxes are not nice. They are nice for adults, maybe, because we can just pick up all the stuff and throw it in a box, so our living area is all clean again. But it's not nice for children.
For me it seems simple.. Would you like all your stuff, everything you need and use, thrown in one big box, in one big mess? So that you can't find, what you need, when you need it? With no respect to you or your things? I don't think so.
For adults, viewing the child's toys as just some crap you can scoop all up, it shouldn't really be that way. First of all, you should have only things that you value. And want to use. (Your child to use.) And then it's only logical to threat them respectfully.
I call them "Montessori shelves". As in Montessori especially they stress the importance of displaying Montessori materials neatly. Not only neatly, but there is a whole system, how you should display them. (For example, all the materials that are needed for a certain task, are in one nice box, that is put nicely in the shelf.)
But it's not only Montessori, also Waldorf has their toys arranged nicely. In shelves, also in some nice baskets and boxes. Everything has it's place.
Actually it's like that in any place, that respects the children.
(Some stuff, of course, can also be in boxes.. Like a box for building blocks, or a box for balls and so on.)
 |
| On Pinterest |
And even if they do remember about the toy under all the other things.. Then the result is, they need to flip all the box over, to get to it. And there's the mess.
Having shelves, where toys are displayed nicely, helps to have some order in the house and play area. Simply, every time child takes something and plays with it, once he's done, you put it back. Right away and when child sees you doing it. (Not when he's asleep.) At first the parent needs to do it. But sooner than you think, child follows your example, and has learned a lifelong skill of putting things, that he doesn't need anymore, back in their place. Without asking him to do it, without having to "clean up".
(I have seen my friend being very successful with this. Her boy put his toys nicely back, without being asked to do so, I think when he was under 1 year. And once, when visiting our place, he took a remote, played with it, and once they were leaving, he put it back exactly where he had taken it from!) :)
Our baby's "activity corner" - a space for her - we started creating before she was born. There is a carpet (in a neutral color, gray - a big mistake is to have too colorful "activity carpets" for children. How can a child concentrate on her toys on it, if the toys and the background as well are colorful? It's distracting), the mirror (which has been seen in previous posts), and her toy box. But soon there will be a shelf instead of the box.
 |
| Adelaide in her "activity" or "play corner" with one of her favourite "toys" - just a peace of cloth. :) It's great - little flowers that attract her attention, it's great for grabbing (develops motoric skills), plus an amazing quality, if compared with other toys - it doesn't fall out of her hands and away from her. If she loses it, it's still right there. So less of a frustrated baby. |
At first it didn't matter that much. But now she can already see quite far, and soon she can move herself to reach the thing she wishes. At first she will be able to use the lowest shelf, but when she starts lifting up, then also others.
For now her play area is in our living room. For some time it will be enough. As she anyway wants to be near us, and she doesn't have (or need) that much of things yet. The plan is to create a play room for her sometime, in a couple of years, instead of our bedroom downstairs. When she will have more stuff, they will not anymore fit so well in our small living room.
Comments
Post a Comment