This has been such a hard task! We moved 2 months ago and I just found the almost best way to organize Pinky’s bedroom. Oh well, she has way too many stuffs!

I love the point behind the Montessori method: beauty, to follow the child’s interests, child friendly environment, simplicity, etc. However, it is hard to find a Montessori bedroom example for older kids!

If you follow Pinterest, (if you don’t…you are missing wonderful ideas and more stress into your life!) you can find plenty of Montessori bedrooms or Montessori-inspired bedrooms for infants and toddlers. But, what about preschoolers, and bigger kids that are very brain washed with princesses, fairies, My little pony (OMG! we are in this stage right now), Dora, Hello Kitty, etc? I bet, you got the idea that I have a girl at home!

Well, now you understand why it is so hard for me to organize Pinky’s things. Did I day she has too many stuffs? My fault!

Since, I couldn’t find any example to follow (If you have any, let me know PLEASE!!!)….here is my attempt again!….(here is our first post about the same issue when Pinky was a preschooler) to incorporate the Montessori ideas into our brain washed space:

This is Pinky’s bedroom seen from the door. It is her bedroom and playroom since we live in a 2 bedroom apartment, yet.

I tried my very best fitting all her things as organized and available for a kid as I could!

As you can see, bookshelves are a great way to displace toys. We don’t rotate them because of the lack of storage available, so all her toys are always on sight. Actually (as a 5 years old), she is in love with all miniature houses, toys, ponies, princesses, ponies, animals, cars, ponies, etc. Everything tiny and small!!! 

 

Behind the door, we have her bed. It is a wood twin bed, not a floor bed like the one you always see related to a Montessori room. The reasons are:

1. I didn’t get to know about the Montessori method until Pinky was around 18 months old.
2. We bought a regular crib (well, it was a gift!) that we could change into a toddler bed.
3. Pinky really never liked her crib/toddler bed, so we were co-sleeping until almost her first 2 years of life.
4. Finally she got to use her “big girl” bedroom and toddler bed until her 3 birthday when she was outgrowing her bed.
5. Mommy found a great deal $20 for this kind of vintage wood twin bed. Mattress was bought new with the money the store gave me for my I-didn’t-know-my-baby-crib-had-a-recall!

There you have our bed story…..let me tell you that Pinky loves it and the bed height is suitable.

The decals on the wall are from her 3 birthday Tinker bell and fairies obsession love.

She doesn’t want to get rid of them and I just, well, followed my child’s desire! At the end of the day, it’s her bedroom, yes?

Besides the bed there’s a night table holding books (in need of some TLC!), and a bookshelf holding her houses. (Did I say she loves all mini toys?)

 

Frames. Pictures from her 2 past schools, a dance writing, and a drawing made by her best friend with their photo.

Her Princesses/Barbie’s house.

Toy box holding pretty much every thing that doesn’t have a place like her market/kitchen stuffs, musical instruments, balls, etc.

The basket contains level books she can read by herself.

The night table holds mini dollies in the first drawer and all the toy houses parts in the second drawer.

The two green baskets are theme/seasonal books. Right now we have books about community helpers inside one and books about going back to school in the other.

Next to the night table, there is another bookshelf with baskets for toys by themes like: cars, pets, ocean, pond, farm, mixed-up toys.

The 2 big purple baskets contains fruits, vegetables and food for her toy kitchen.

The chest contains Pinky’s clothes. I still need to print-out a few labels I made for her in order to know what’s in each drawer.

As you can see, she also has princesses decals.

Got to love little girly girls!!!

Then, there’s a small table/desk which I had to put another house (it was a gift from a family friend and Pinky uses to complete her pretend “Ponyville”.)

Next, is her toy kitchen which sincerely I don’t know why I keep it. She doesn’t use it anymore that much. We will keep it for a bit longer and see if she gets another pretend cooking sensorial period or something like that!

On the wall you can see our bows frame holder. I made it with a piece of wood, a recycled receiving baby blanket and ribbons using my glue gun. It’s amazing!

It saves time in the morning!!!

Next to the toy kitchen and behind the closet door, we have the puppet theater and puppet’s basket.

Just like the kitchen, I am holding into this one for a few more months and see if she gets her attention into it again.

We also, double use it as our market counter.

Behind the closet door we have a shoe holder which it has been holding our princesses and Barbie for quiet a time now and it is the most amazing idea ever! Not mine!

Inside the walking closet we have a reading nook with her old crib mattress on the floor with stuffed animals and a bookshelf full of awesome books waiting to be read.

We A.D.O.R.E books at this house and they are always read many many times with the same excitement as the first time!

Small stuffed animals are organized into wired baskets from Target (I think!)

Here dresses, skirts and dressed-up customs at a child friendly level.

This girl LOVES dresses!!!

In the middle of the room there’s her favorite rug (from Ikea) which she uses every-single-day to play “Ponyville”.

Before that she used to play with her cars.

That’s It! My hard attempt into a functional, organized, child friendly and brain washed modern kindergartner bedroom.

I know it is not a TRUE Montessori room but it is the most approximated one we could get at our home using the amazing idea behind the method!

Plus this is what my little princess told me as soon as she got from school and saw her room:

Thank you, thank you thank you mommy!!! You really did a good job in my bedroom. I love it!!!!

Aaaahhh! It melts my heart!

Until the next moving experience!!!

Linking to:

Here we have the last addition to our geography corner. I found these a long time ago, saved them and then forgot about them Since I have been doing some cleaning around, I ‘d found them with other un-done projects (tell me I am NOT the only one!). Well, I decided it is time to finish the project and let Pinky explore, play learn and have fun with them.

Sorry, I can’t remember where I found these. (Arrgg! It was BEFORE Pinterest lol)

Thanks so very much to SteveH for letting me know where to find these beautiful printables.

They are from KizClub.com (Kids around the world) plus you can find the flags, too.

If anyone knows the webpage, let me know in order to give credit!

I think she liked them!

I am planning to use these as a matching activity with the Flags around the World project I did a few days ago.

Also, we are going to classify these by Continents, talk about differences and similarities among people, explore our Continent boxes, or just have a fun puppet show.

 

Our Continent Boxes (not perfect unfinished, as always lol)

Upper shelf: Antarctica, a blue bin with general activities about the world like maps, puzzles, flashcards, Europe.

Middle shelf: Asia bin and Africa

Lower shelf: North America (I have another bin just for USA, so in this one we have general aspects plus the Caribbean), Australia and South America.

 

I will try to do a post about what’s inside our boxes. The only bins that need some help are Australia and South America (but it is just about time!)

Disclaimer: I know it is better to keep just a few things inside the box at the time and just rotate them.

However, we are just taking the Montessori idea and applying it the best we can to our situation.

Pinky goes to a Montessori school full time, we still love to learn and have fun at home, she is the only child and we live in a rented apartment where I am trying to keep her “learning tools” available while keeping the home environment.

 

How do you add a learning space for your child at home while not changing it into a classroom???

Linking to:

I know is great to play and, while we are having fun, we don’t realize the mess we are creating. But, how do you feel when this happen every single day of your life??? I was done!!! It is kind of frustrate to tide a place one day just to have to do it the next day again and again and again. Furthermore, the amount of toys available don’t help too much.

I have been looking at all those beautiful Montessori bedroom around Pinterest and was kind of envy by not having that at home. Ok, I know it’s my daughter’s bedroom but our “organization” was NOT functioning at all. It is one of those moments when you feel that something is not ok. If you can’t visualized, here is what I’m talking about:

What’s wrong with this place: Too many colors, not peaceful, not enough space available for organization, TOO MANY TOYS!!!

After many weeks thinking about it and searching for ideas, I just wanted to answer this question: How would I be able to have a “Montessori bedroom” following my daughter’s needs (her age, “independence” and her likes) and mine (organization, peaceful and cute place, budget). My answer: Montessori has to meet a Fairy, Princess, “Mommy”, chef, shoes lover, books lover, costumes lover, small animals, cars, dolls and objects lover.

Therefore, here is when Montessori met Pinky!!! 

 

Pinky’s Montessori-inspired room.

 

Entrance. She loves princesses, so I bought this cute fairies decal, and the tree made it with a decorative Dollar tree contact paper ($1) Thanks to my friend Monica for such an awesome idea!. A shoe holder for a shoe lover, all available on a first sight, not as before that we where using that green basket that just ended with a mess whenever she was looking for a pair of shoes. Now the basket holds balls, helmet and other outside toys (we live in an apartment so we don’t have the advantages of a house). He iron board has a place available now. Added a plant, Mr. green is its name!.

View from her bed (peaceful???). On the wall: her own art framed, a mirror on her level, and with the extra contact paper, I made music notes for her music basket (toy guitar, xylophone, tambourine, flutes, etc.). Two new small bookshelves holding some toys, books, favorite stuffed animals (gave away all the rest), a radio and a green basket FULL of customs.

Pinky’s drawing: Ariel with flounder and Sebastian the crab playing on the water with a rainbow on the sky. Ahhh my little artist!!!! I have Lots of her amazing art pieces. There’s talent for sure!!. Next, there’s a shoe holder functioning as a princesses, barbies bed. Yeah!!! no more princesses around on the floor because they have they’re place to sleep, plus they are available at first sight so no more mess while looking for the desired one!

Her closet that has its function plus acts as a hiding/reading place (see at the end). Thinkerbell bows holder (made it recycling a box, glued a Thinkerbell picture and ribbon- glue a penny at the end of the ribbon to give it some weight). A mommy’s corner with her babies, stoller, swing. On the wall a frame of a picture of her actual preschool classroom and a drawing her best friend Sara made for her (Awwwww!)  with a picture of the two of them. A bind case holding all the miniature toys, Legos, animals, etc.

A doll house, doll cars, a bookshelf holding more books especially Dr. Zeus, Spanish and French ones and Princesses, lamp, a wipe case used as a hair bands holder. Next, there’s Pinky’s bed (it a transitional crib which I will like to change but it is not on the budget now. Montessori use a floor bed but since Pinky is finally used to her bed and she can get up and down whenever she likes (because her age), I’ll stick with it. I decided to change her crib into a toddler bed around her 17 months old but using the 2 little frames and a pillow on the floor just in case but this bed is not that high. On the wall a few more Thinkerbell pictures. I can’t help myself because being Puertorrican, I love to have things hang out on the walls. lol

A tiny chair, her Kitchen and a table where we practice the Piano lessons (she is getting good at it!). This table function also as a small toys place to play and art table (found it for Free!).

 

Reading-hiding place closet

Pinky loves books and to hide in the closets. Since she used to hide on mine and it wasn’t safe for her, I decided to make her closet available for her personal delight. Let me tell you, she enjoy it and her friends, too! I love it because it keeps its principal function holding her clothes (which she makes sure to have available because she uses her tiny chair to reach them. A little bit of challenge is good too. You will be amaze of what the can do by themselves!). I bought her a huge giraffe pillow when she was 11 months old and finally was getting on the way around the apartment but no more because now she keep it here. (Happy mommy dance!) 

Yes, that’s her cribs frame repurposed into a books holder.

For this year on Valentine’s day, dada wanted to buy her a HUGE HUGE teddy bear (uffff!!!), and he did. The teddy bear was in the middle of the bedroom creating more mess, but now he is acting as a cute and wonderful pillow and friend on reading-relaxing time. (yeah!!!). Behind the closet door, I added two closet lights, so when she closes the doors to hide inside she still can see (mysterious????) Also there’s a princess chalk decal my friend Monica gave us adding fun to the place (Thanks!!)

Isn’t that a comfy place!!!

That’s how Montessori came, met Pinky and helped mommy! Our room is still on more changes like giving away more unused toys but I believe the change has to be little by little for Pinky to be adapt. So far, she knows were everything goes and cleaning time is getting better.

 

Want more ideas?? Here’s a post from Deb at Living Montessori Now with lots of ideas for a Montessori rooms.

Linking to: