Everything You Need To Know About Montessori Boards

Children who learn at their own pace are usually happy and happy children who develop fully by interacting with their surroundings. For this to happen, the game is usually crucial. Within the framework of play, toys are very important. For example, children can learn a lot while having fun and playing with Montessori boards, which is what we will be talking about today.

Children have an innate need to explore, discover and satisfy their curiosity. For this reason, Maria Montessori – the famous teacher who has contributed so much to children’s joy and optimal development – has developed theories and toys specially designed for children so that they can learn through play.

What are Montessori boards?

A Montessori board is a toy, specifically an activity board, specially designed for children so that they can develop certain skills. The most common skills are creativity, problem solving, logic and fine motor skills.

How to use these Montessori boards? They present games and little mysteries that children can solve. How? In general, by using their cognitive skills – such as logic, observation, etc. – they can find the right solution.

These activity boards also promote endurance as children are very likely to make mistakes during their first attempts. However, they must continue and have patience to test different ways, think out, reason and find the best solutions to the mysteries they encounter.

The activity board consists of a series of locks that hide different elements. These can be, for example, drawings of animals. Through a question or a problem, it is important that children try to guess what is hidden under each lock, which they need to open with their knowledge.

To all this we must add an improvement of manual skills related to fine motor skills. The little ones, for example, have to unlock and lock the locks depending on the type of toy. Therefore, they expand their skills with hands and fingers.

Advantages of Montessori boards

Why is it valuable for children to play with Montessori boards? There are clear benefits for children from the time they are just babies until they are about six years old.

Problem solving

These activity boards can help young children improve their ability to solve simple problems as they get children to observe and search for hidden objects.

Fine motor skills

We have already mentioned this. The small children move objects in different sizes depending on age. It allows them to practice their eye-hand coordination and their fine motor skills.

Memory enhancement with Montessori boards

This is another point that speaks for the use of these activity boards. Children need to remember certain illustrations and divr that they associate with concepts. That way, they use their memory.

Learn about their surroundings

Montessori boards have many different themes. Some focus on cooking, animals, nature, medicine… In other words, they help children become familiar with their surroundings and in short with life and the world around them.

Train endurance with Montessori boards

Children become more persistent when they are interested in something, such as a problem that they cannot solve but really want to solve. They will then continue until they figure it out without a thought of giving up.

Patience

This is a rare trait in children because it is not in their nature. Therefore, it is important that children learn and internalize this ability as quickly as possible through play. Fortunately, the Montessori boards help us teach this.

Awareness

We also know that children do not have a very great ability to keep their attention on something concrete for a long time. It is a skill that gets better as they mature and this toy can help them move on in a natural way.

Montessori boards stimulate curiosity

For a child, everything in the world is new. This is why these activity boards, through which they can discover basic elements in everything around them – such as animals in the countryside, parts of the kitchen, etc. – are useful to help the little ones know what the different things are for, what animals do, why they have to respect all kinds of life forms etc. The Montessori boards help to arouse their curiosity and make them want to know more and more.

In short, Montessori boards are toys that focus on children’s autonomous development and learning  in several different ways. They improve their coordination, logical thinking and ability to analyze, while motivating them to seek new challenges and optimize their cognitive skills.