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Home » Montessori » Classroom » The Easiest Way to Bring Nature into a Montessori Environment

The Easiest Way to Bring Nature into a Montessori Environment

This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure .

I looked over and my toddler was carefully watering his plant.

I smiled.

Sometimes things happen as a parent that makes you feel like just maybe you’re doing something right.

Montessori at Home - The Plant

Little by little, our home is beginning the transformation. This week I added a plant to my sons’ activity area. Maria Montessori was a belief that nature should be a critical component of a child’s learning environment.

Bring Nature into a Montessori Environment

She felt that nature inspires learning in children (the colors, the contrasts, the sounds, the smells, etc) and that learning to care for plants (and animals) was an important step in development.

Related Post: How to Create an Outdoor Montessori Space

Plants in the Home

The African Violet is the perfect plant to introduce to a child’s learning environment because of the size, feel, and color. I explained to my son that this plant was his plant for which to care and that it will remain on his table. He looked at me with kind of a funny “I am thinking about this” face.

Related Read: How to Respond to kids with Calm & Confidence

I am not sure what caused his wonder: the idea that he gets to water the plant, that this plant is his to keep, etc. The important immediate result is that he thought about it at all. I am excited to see his reaction today when he comes downstairs.

Lately, as many two-year-olds, he likes to take ownership of things (My Balloon, My Car…) in a way that may not always be positive but it can be…

Definitely, check out how to make your own DIY newspaper planter with kids!

Thanks for reading.
Marnie

Tagged With: Nature

About Marnie Craycroft

Marnie hails from Maine where she spent summers buried in sand and winters buried in snow. She is the daughter of a nearly four decade veteran of the public school systems. Teaching has always been a part of her life. She founded Carrots Are Orange in 2010.

Carrots Are Orange is a Montessori learning and living website for parents and teachers.

Marnie graduated from Wesleyan University in 1999 with a BA in Economics. She spent nearly a decade working in investment management. In 2006, she earned her MA in business from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business.

Marnie moved to the west coast in 1999 and currently lives in Boulder with her husband and three sons. She is Montessori trained. Her work has been featured on Apartment Therapy, Buzzfeed, PBS Kids, BabyCenter, the Melissa & Doug blog, Huffington Post, and WhattoExpect.com. Besides writing, passions include running (usually after her three sons), photography, and outdoor adventures.

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