What Montessori families put in “treasure baskets” for their babies

Your baby craves touching, handling, and mouthing new and different things (especially objects from real life). You’ll soon find out that there’s an endless stream of objects inside your home—and outdoors—that are often more interesting to them than actual toys.

A Montessori Treasure Basket is a collection of common objects that are rotated in and out of a container.

To fill your Montessori treasure basket, you can put random things together or categorize different types of objects to help your baby build associations: round things, square things, fuzzy things, things that jingle, kitchen or bathroom things. 

Here are some ideas for a Montessori treasure basket:

• Large shells and large non-chokeable rocks, a big, smooth stick (like driftwood)
• Brushes: makeup, toothbrush, baby brushes, paint brush, nail brushes, hairbrushes, shaving brush
• Ribbons: different widths and colours
• Pine cones: a variety of pine cones
• Measuring: cups, spoons, cloth tape
• Balls: felt, plastic, wood, Montessori, all in our Play Kits!
• Kitchen stuff: basting brush, whisk, kitchen timer, other small kitchen items   
• Pompoms: large and in a variety of colours
• Laundry: Clothes pins and thread spools (with no thread)

Note: Be sure to watch your baby so that small or chokeable items are not mouthed. Also, pay close attention when babies are around objects with long handles, such as whisks, brushes, and wooden spoons.

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