Montessori Shelves that Welcome Spring
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I cannot wait to shake off these winter blues! Despite the snow on the ground, I know that spring is just around the corner, and I’m really looking forward to celebrating the season with my Little Guy. I can’t wait to dig in the garden, search for the first flowers that bloom in our yard, and wait for the pollinators to wake from their winter slumber.
I hope that some of these themes inspire you to bring a bit of sunshine to your prepared learning environment, or at least spark some great ideas! I’ll be going deeper into a few of these themes in the coming months, so be sure to check back for fully fleshed out units, spring DIYs, and book recommendations!
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Springtime Books
I plan on doing a whole post with book reviews of my most favorite books about spring, but here are some Montessori friendly books to get you started:
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Practical Life Activities
Spring is bursting with opportunities for littles to get some quality practical life tasks in. here are just a handful of ideas:
Help prepare a garden bed
Plant seeds
Water plants outside
Floral arrangements with daffodils, tulips, or crocuses
Fill a bird feeder
Weed the garden
Pick fresh herbs
My absolute favorite practical life activity that lasts from early spring through late fall is gardening with my Little Guy. Grey Skies and Rainbow Highs has some great suggestions on starting a garden with a toddler here.
Spring Themes
Weather and Season Changes
I love that we live in an area with four seasons. This gives us the perfect opportunity to return to weather and season changes in a natural way four times a year. Every time we return to this, basic concepts are being reinforced while my Little Guy learns more about the world around him and the season change that he’s about to experience.
Women’s History
March is Women’s History Month, so it’s a great time for a unit that’s heavy on less theme based Montessori activities, like transferring activities, fine motor work, and mathematic concepts, while having a selection of books that are dedicated to the amazing contributions of women around the world. Of course, diversity should be daily, so there are always books that represent women, BIPOC, world religions, and cultural differences on his shelves, but there’s no harm in focusing on a specific group for a week or two to celebrate a heritage or history month.
Lifecycles
With the world starting to bloom, baby lambs and goats being born, and pollinators coming back into our lives, spring is an excellent time for some lifecycle work. Here are some ideas of particularly appropriate lifecycles to study:
Lifecycle of a Plant
Lifecycle of a Chicken
Lifecycle of a Tree
Birds
We’re fortunate to have birds in our back yard all year long, but starting around mid-March we can hear a variety of birdsong from sun up till sundown. My Little Guy has loved birds since his very first spring, and they’re such a great way to discuss color and work on matching activities. It may take some effort to find materials with birds specific to your region, but it’s absolutely worth it once you hear your little one shouting the name of the bird that they’re chasing through the yard.
Bugs
Personally, I think bugs are a little icky. I don’t love them. I’ve never loved them. If I never saw another, that would be fine with me (theoretically). However, many bugs are pollinators, and our planet needs pollinators in order to survive, so I’m trying to teach my Little Guy to love them and interact with them respectfully.
Bees
In this house, bees are their own separate and beautiful theme. Little Guy has been absolutely in love with them since he saw his first bumble bee buzzing about, and there is so much that can be done with them. He loves his bee unit so much that it’s frequently in rotation, but I make a priority of putting his bees out in the spring to emphasize the connection between bees and plants.
Butterflies
I know, I know, butterflies can easily be taught with bugs. Of course they can, but when your toddler loves butterflies as much as mine does, sometimes it’s worth building a whole theme around them. A butterfly unit offers so many great opportunities to discuss lifecycles, colors, pollination, counting, matching, and so much more.
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