A lot of the spaces I’ve shared here have been ones that we prepared when the girls were in the first plane of development, from 0 to 6 years old. That plane requires more minimalism, separated materials each on their own trays, everything pretty low to the ground, etc. Now that my girls are firmly in the second plane of development, from 6 to 12 years old, our prepared environment has also changed! Here’s what our Montessori-inspired living spaces look like for children in the second plane of development.
Living Room
Our living room is the hub of our home. This side of the living room is currently where all of the girls’ things belong. We have a reading nook in the corner (styled by Lila, age 8) with their Ikea chairs, some afghans crocheted by my mom, a reading lamp, and some books from the library. Next we have our art cart with some art supplies and craft kits in it (although most are now in the Creation Station) and the art table and chairs the girls have been using for years — it’s now mostly used for writing books or doing homework. The shelf on the far right holds bins full of the girls open-ended toys: Magnatiles, Playmobil, Legos, animal figurines, blocks, etc. If they were younger, I would get rid of the bins and put one toy in each cube, but the girls are now at the age where they like to combine all of their open-ended materials into one large game.
This room also holds all of the research projects the girls have worked on that will be on display forever [Ha!]. You can learn more about research projects with a second plane child here.
Kitchen/Dining
Instead of a helper tower, my second plane children now use just a stepstool at the counter (we’re still a pretty short family!). We still have child-specific tools in certain drawers, but they can also access the entire kitchen now that they are bigger — and I’m not going to lie, I have walked into the kitchen to find a child standing on the countertop to reach something more that once! While this would be a reason for me to move those materials lower down for a child in the first plane of development, these big kids are able to get what they need relatively safely. We are still using our Stokke Tripp Trapp chairs — the same ones they’ve used ever since they could sit at the table with us!
Entryway
Our entryway hasn’t changed too much — this Sprout Kids Wardrobe is still functioning well for us to hold jackets, hats & gloves, backpacks, and all of the shoes the girls will need each season. We have added a window thermometer so the girls can check the temperature each day when deciding which outerwear would be appropriate.
Creation Station
Now that we are no longer homeschooling, we transformed our Montessori homeschool preschool room into a brand new Creation Station! I wrote all about that here:
Bedrooms
The girls’ bedrooms have also changed quite a bit since they were in the first plane of development. Most notably, there’s a lot more in their rooms now, and providing ways to help keep it all organized is key! Here’s a post I wrote about Lila’s second plane bedroom:
To see what our home looked like while the girls were in the first plane of development:
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