She’s officially 1 year old! The phrase ‘time flies’ has never felt more real. We now begin the journey to Year 2 starting at Month 13.

She has been getting more curious and wants to explore everything around her. There isn’t a single place in the house that she hasn’t left unturned. Most days our house looks something like this.

Exploring is very good for their development so we just let her do what she wants as long as there is nothing harmful in her reach. Apart from this, she goes to her shelves and plays a lot during the day. She manages to work on all the activities on her own and keep herself busy.

Books

One of the best ways to encourage Language in your Munchkin and improve and grow their vocabulary. For smaller children, books made of cloth are ideal and then around 1 year, hardbound books are great for them.

Initially we should use books with only images in them, slowly moving to ones that have a single word and a picture. If they like to be read to, then short stories are a good option.

The most important thing to keep in mind is to use non-fiction books and stories at this age. Your Munchkin is still not ready for fantasy-based books.

Rocking Horse

My Munchkin received a Rocking Elephant for her birthday and she loves it. She initially needed help but soon knew how to use it on her own.

This is a nice thing to have for your Munchkin as children love it and it helps in gross motor skills and promotes cerebral development.

Montessori Shelf for a One Year Old

Let’s see what is on our shelves for a one year old?

Row 1

Top most row has the Colourful Soft Blocks. (Tutorial can be viewed there.) My munchkin does still use them to try build a tower. Though it is high for her, she manages to go on her toes and pull them down.

Row 2

This has the books we are currently reading:

-The Very Hungry Caterpillar

-Two books of Baby Touch

-Baby Animals

-Animal Sounds

Next we have the Xylophone, which she absolutely loves.

The DIY Coin Box has been added to her shelves this month. (I will put up a tutorial for this soon.)

Row 3

DIY Colour Sensory Bottles (Tutorial can be viewed there.)

DIY Object Permanence Box (Tutorial can be viewed there.)

Basket of Balls

Row 4

DIY Sound Sensory Bottles. (Watch out for the tutorial this week.)

Turtle puzzle. I removed this from the shelf in a few days as I realized it was still too early for her to use this.

Bead Maze

Outside the shelf, is her ring stacker. I have kept it out as it does not fit on my shelves and the topmost row would be too high for her to access it by herself.

Below is a video of My Munchkin working with her Xylophone.

Have you set up a Montessori Shelf for your Munchkin yet? Do share pictures with us.