Montessori inspired mobiles.. DIY
I mentioned sometime already, that when it comes to newborns and tiny babies, I'm all about Attachment Parenting - babies need our closeness, cuddles, safety.. A lot of breast. :D And that's pretty much it, at least that's what matters the most.
But if you are interested in Montessori and have a small baby - this blogger at The Kavanaugh Report exactly has one too, and there is a lot of perfectly Montessori advice.
For me, Montessori is more about education and development, and a lot of it, of course, I agree, starts from birth. And I tried to follow the principles already with Adelaide - for example, respect to the baby as an individual person from the very beginning; respecting, if the baby is busy with something, concentrating at something.. to not disturb that concentration, if possible.. Giving a chance for free movement etc..
I think, much of what is considered Montessori, when it comes to babies, is just an interpretation (as Maria Montessori didn't talk much specifically about this age, she was more about the age starting from 3 years), and if you do it differently, it's not NOT Montessori. I, for example, personally, don't choose floor beds and sleeping separately for babies etc, I think co-sleeping can be equally Montessori, the attitude is what matters.
Anyway.. :) We do have an activity area planned for the baby (who knows only, how will I protect her from Adelaide, so that Adelaide doesn't jump on the baby), hopefully we can also share the same mirror that is in Adelaide's area right now.. And for the moments, when baby is happy on her own, mobiles are great. :)
We don't use mobiles in the bed, for falling asleep purposes and such, but they are exactly for baby's concentration - something to look at, observe and investigate in the first months. I had made a simple mobile for Adelaide, Montessori-inspired (pretty much in the way, that it was black and white), you can see it in this old post (what I have written there is old though, now my thoughts have changed quite much).
Adelaide really enjoyed that mobile for quite some time. But it needed to be improved a bit. So I used the same parts, but made it a lot sturdier and nicer, with some help of Mr. Husband. :) And he made a totally new mobile holder! (From this tutorial.) Which looks great!
We had a very ex-prompto made holder last time, and mostly used it with the Stokke day bed, which actually is not the best way, it should be used only for sleeping, as for the awake time it would be better, if the baby is on the floor, being able to see the space around her. So this new mobile holder works exactly for that - on the floor.. Or perhaps, I'm thinking, in our big bed, where sometimes it would be safer, a bit away from Adelaide running around.
And I made one actual Montessori mobile, so-called Gobbi mobile, mainly because I think it looks nice. I didn't follow an exact tutorial, but checked out a couple, for example this one.
I'm not planning to make any more of specifically Montessori mobiles, you can see those, for example, in the same blog mentioned earlier. I don't find it necessary. You can find plenty of other toys and items for the baby to look at. Only, maybe the wooden ring, that later hangs and the baby can hit and grab it.. We sort of had one for Adelaide.
But as for these two mobiles, I'm happy on how they have turned out. :)
But if you are interested in Montessori and have a small baby - this blogger at The Kavanaugh Report exactly has one too, and there is a lot of perfectly Montessori advice.
For me, Montessori is more about education and development, and a lot of it, of course, I agree, starts from birth. And I tried to follow the principles already with Adelaide - for example, respect to the baby as an individual person from the very beginning; respecting, if the baby is busy with something, concentrating at something.. to not disturb that concentration, if possible.. Giving a chance for free movement etc..
I think, much of what is considered Montessori, when it comes to babies, is just an interpretation (as Maria Montessori didn't talk much specifically about this age, she was more about the age starting from 3 years), and if you do it differently, it's not NOT Montessori. I, for example, personally, don't choose floor beds and sleeping separately for babies etc, I think co-sleeping can be equally Montessori, the attitude is what matters.
Anyway.. :) We do have an activity area planned for the baby (who knows only, how will I protect her from Adelaide, so that Adelaide doesn't jump on the baby), hopefully we can also share the same mirror that is in Adelaide's area right now.. And for the moments, when baby is happy on her own, mobiles are great. :)
We don't use mobiles in the bed, for falling asleep purposes and such, but they are exactly for baby's concentration - something to look at, observe and investigate in the first months. I had made a simple mobile for Adelaide, Montessori-inspired (pretty much in the way, that it was black and white), you can see it in this old post (what I have written there is old though, now my thoughts have changed quite much).
Adelaide really enjoyed that mobile for quite some time. But it needed to be improved a bit. So I used the same parts, but made it a lot sturdier and nicer, with some help of Mr. Husband. :) And he made a totally new mobile holder! (From this tutorial.) Which looks great!
We had a very ex-prompto made holder last time, and mostly used it with the Stokke day bed, which actually is not the best way, it should be used only for sleeping, as for the awake time it would be better, if the baby is on the floor, being able to see the space around her. So this new mobile holder works exactly for that - on the floor.. Or perhaps, I'm thinking, in our big bed, where sometimes it would be safer, a bit away from Adelaide running around.
And I made one actual Montessori mobile, so-called Gobbi mobile, mainly because I think it looks nice. I didn't follow an exact tutorial, but checked out a couple, for example this one.
I'm not planning to make any more of specifically Montessori mobiles, you can see those, for example, in the same blog mentioned earlier. I don't find it necessary. You can find plenty of other toys and items for the baby to look at. Only, maybe the wooden ring, that later hangs and the baby can hit and grab it.. We sort of had one for Adelaide.
But as for these two mobiles, I'm happy on how they have turned out. :)
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