Truthfully, it’s okay if your toddler just wants to play all day at home. Your toddler is in the period of the Absorbent Mind, and her brain is soaking up new information every single day. But if you do want to set the groundwork for beginning to do Montessori Homeschool Preschool, setting up some materials for your toddler is a good place to start!

Toddlers in my Montessori classroom began at 18 months, and these were some of their most-used materials:

• Nesting Cups 
• Ring Post 
• Lots of objects for Nomenclature Baskets (naming — things like play fruit/veg, animals, etc.  Larger than Toob size)
• plastic nuts and bolts
• Nature objects for sensory baskets
• Large and small knobbed puzzles with real pictures
• Baby doll + stuff for washing or clothes for putting on and taking off
• Opening and closing materials
• Shape sorting box 
• Button posting
• Window washing
• Bead Lacing
• Food prep work

Set up a work shelf with each of these materials on it’s own work tray or in a basket. Work on bringing one material to the table, using it, and then putting it back on the shelf before choosing another material. This is a process — it’s not something that will happen overnight! In my Montessori toddler classroom, this process of choosing work, using it, and returning it to the shelf was the only “lesson” I formally worked on for the first month of school.

If you’re interested in learning more about setting up and facilitating a Montessori Homeschool Preschool for ages 1.5-6 years old, check out my e-course!