The Montessori method was created by Maria Montessori as a new way to give children independence in their education. A Montessori bedroom is organized and put together in a way to give your child independence. How do you organize a Montessori bedroom?
A Montessori bedroom has all of the furniture at the child’s height. Everything should be within the child’s reach to give them full independence in the room—nothing is restricted. It is decorated in a minimalist style with neutral colors and bright pictures and learning materials for the child.
Of course, it can be difficult to figure out what to get for a Montessori Bedroom. We’ll go into specifics for Montessori bedrooms for children below.
What Is the Purpose of a Montessori Bedroom?
The purpose of a Montessori bedroom is to give your child independence. They get to decide when they fall asleep and when they wake up. They decide when playtime or reading time begins and ends. They can explore the whole room without a parent deciding what they can and can’t have access to. Nothing is restricted for them in their bedroom; they have full access.
You can decide when it’s time to eat and when they need to be in their room for nap time, but they decide if they sleep during nap time or when they get out of bed in the morning. They have power over their room and the choices they make in there, just like you.
What Furniture Goes Into a Montessori Bedroom?
The Montessori bed is a floor bed. You could build a little bedframe for it or just keep a nice toddler-sized mattress on the floor. It should not have any rails or bars; this allows the child to have full access to their bed so they can get in and out of it as they please. You can start babies as young as 6 months in this type of bed. Since the bed is meant to lay on the floor, you won’t have to worry about them falling off and hurting themselves.
For babies, keep the bed free of blankets, pillows, and toys. For toddlers, keep the bedding simple to teach them about making their bed. The main purpose of the bed is to let your children decide when they get in and out of bed and not have the parents control sleeping times completely.
Sit on the floor to find the right height for the rest of their furniture. Shelves or cubbies are going to be your best friend in this room. We highly suggest some low shelves like this one from Amazon because it is at the perfect height for your child and offers them plenty of storage space for learning materials or clothes. This also gives them full freedom to play with the items on the shelves. Check out our full article on recommended Montessori shelves.
Once your child is a toddler, it is time to give them the independence of getting ready by themselves. Use a wardrobe like this one or a similar mini closet for your child, or even a simple short closet rod for your child to hang their clothes on. This gives them the ability to pick out and put away their clothes. Alternatively, you could build your own Montessori wardrobe.
Some final optional items to add for your Montessori bedroom are a little table and chairs to give your child an area to work on projects and play with their learning materials. You can also add a rocking chair for nursing your little one, and once they are older, you can replace it with a reading corner.
Something to note: Because your child’s room will allow them to have full access to all shelves and other furniture, it is important to make sure everything is safe and secure and will not tip over.
What Decorations Go in a Montessori Bedroom?
First things first, get yourself some strong mounting strips. You’ll want to hang decorations at your child’s height and the heavy-duty mounting strips are going to keep the decor from falling off the wall and hurting your child. For photos, get your child’s opinion on things that interest them. If they like dinosaurs, get them dinosaur pictures. Also, have a set of family photos for them to look at. Other things you can hang up are maps, the alphabet, and numbers. Include a mirror by their closet as well.
In the reading corner, or by their learning materials, have a soft rug for them to sit on while they play or read. On the shelves, decorate it with their favorite learning materials. Do the same with books because it keeps fresh and interesting for your child. You can store other materials and books in a separate closet.
It is also important to keep the colors of the furniture, walls, and floor neutral. This makes the room feel more calm and safe. Learning materials, books, pictures, etc. will also pop out more and should be the source of color added to the room.
What Will a Child Entertain Themselves With in a Montessori Bedroom?
It is good to have plenty of Montessori-aligned books and learning materials for your child to entertain themselves with in their room. As was said earlier, rotating the materials and books often keeps things interesting and allows your child to explore new things each week. If you need help figuring out what to let your child play with, we suggest looking at Montessori subscription boxes such as Xiair kids. Each box is catered to the child’s age range to help them learn and grow.
The most important aspect of the entertainment in their room is that it is made for them to control. They decide when they want to play or read or do crafts. You don’t have to schedule out activities for them because they have the freedom to do what they want.
