Montessori toys are a great way to encourage motor skills development in babies and toddlers. As they grow, discover, and learn more about the world around them, they need to be able to carry these lessons into their everyday life. The coordination of small muscles in the hands, fingers, and eyes with the right Montessori toys makes daily tasks easier and opens a whole new world of possibilities perfect for your growing baby!

What Are Child Motor Skills?

Child motor skills are the actions that a baby or child can perform which involve the use of their body. These could include anything from walking, talking, and eating to the small movements involved in grabbing toys and pushing buttons on an electronic toy.

What Are Montessori Toys?

Montessori toys for babies are playthings created by Dr. Maria Montessori for children who were considered to be “uneducable” at the time. The toys were created with an aim to help children develop independence, creativity, focus, and learn skills through their playtime, without any adult guidance or interference.

Montessori toys are designed specifically for this reason; they allow a child’s curiosity and imagination to take over while learning how things work in real life.

What is the Montessori Method?

Dr. Maria Montessori created the “Montessori Method” when she discovered that children who were given toys to play within an unstructured environment would learn how to function on their own with no guidance from adults, and if they needed help, they could ask for it! This method of learning is based on her theory of hands-on learning, which states that children learn best by touching and experiencing everything around them.

The Montessori toys for toddlers are designed to be played within a structured environment where the child can complete simple tasks on their own! This encourages independence while also teaching important skills like color recognition, object permanence, hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and more.

How Toys Can Help With Developing Motor Skills

Educational toys help teach babies how to use their hands in a way that is natural and intuitive; they learn through playing with toys like this wooden bead stacking toy. This develops the coordination of small muscles in their hands, fingers, and eyes. Having these skills can make daily tasks easier for your toddler as they grow older – even if it’s something simple like holding a spoon to eat cereal! Toys that help your child problem-solve or complete certain skills is not only fun but help them developmentally.

Tips For Encouraging Your Children’s Motor Skills Through Playtime

There are a number of ways you can use toys to encourage your child’s motor skills development. Here are some tips:

– Place toys that help children develop dexterity – like stacking toys and puzzles – in the areas where they will be used most often, such as on or near their high chair, play table, etc.

– Encourage and praise your child every time they use toys to accomplish tasks. For example, if you give them a toy spoon to eat with at mealtime, say something like “Good job using the spoon!”

– Pick toys that encourage repetition of physical movements in the same way over and over again (such as puzzles or stacking toys). This can be beneficial in developing hand-eye coordination and the baby’s fine motor skills.

– Try toys that involve coloring (such as this paint by numbers or these stencils). Coloring is a fantastic way for children to learn about color and shape while practicing holding the pencil/crayon correctly with their small muscles.

The best Montessori toys are ones that your child enjoys. No toys are required to develop motor skills, but toys that allow children the opportunity to play and interact with toys on their own terms will help them learn about themselves through trial-and-error – which is how babies naturally learn! It is a good idea to have a variety of toys in your playroom for your child.

10 Toys for Toddlers to Help Improve Motor Skills

1) Wooden Carrots Harvest Shape Size Sorting Game

• The carrot harvest is a new kind of Montessori toy for toddlers age 1. It looks simple to play, but it is a challenge for kids. Watching their little brains work trying how to match the carrots to the correct sized holes.
• Benefit for Kids: While playing with this wooden toy, your little one is also developing fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, shape recognition, and dexterity. Perfect for training and developing personal skills for 12-18 months.

2) Wooden Montessori Ball Tracker

• It consists of four different colored wooden balls in yellow, red, cyan, blue, and a wooden frame.
• The lightweight wooden ball moves slowly enough for the child to follow and track the ball as it moves gradually from left to right.
• Your child will learn to grasp and he is able to place the ball in the tracker.
• This item helps children with the visual concept of reading and writing from left to right.

3) 26-Piece City & ABC Wooden Puzzle Playset 

• Your toddler will love playing with this 26-Piece City A to Z Puzzle Playset from BeginAgain. Featuring colorful cityscape objects and letters of the alphabet, these double-sided wooden pieces will help develop fine motor and problem-solving skills.

4) Kids Wooden Bowling Set

• This set of 6 bowling pins and ball are perfect for a baby shower, birthday, or even nursery decor. They are perfect for toddler, preschool, and school-age children.
• Your child will love setting up and knocking over these colorful wooden bowling pins. This is a fun way for your little one to work on balance, concentration, hand-eye coordination, and turn-taking.
• There are many different games to play with your child. Have your child knock down the “pink” pin for example. This will help them with color identification and aim. The possibilities are endless.
• Available in a variety of colors and is customizable.

5) Wooden Rainbow Balancing Stacking Stones (made of beechwood)

• These stacking rock blocks are natural, eco-friendly, non-toxic wooden toy which is suitable for any age, from toddlers to adults.
• Suitable both as a toy and decoration for the home/nursery/office.
• Inspired by the ancient Japanese game Tumi-Ishi, it teaches hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, observation, logic, and inspires creativity.
• Stack, build, balance, and turn stones into mystical lands (rocks, icebergs, deserts).
• This wooden toy is suitable for Montessori education, inspiring open-ended play.

6) Little Surfer by Lily & River | Balance, Play, and Rest

• Little Surfer is a smartboard designed to help with Littles playtime quiet time. Stand and twist to practice balance and coordination. Little Surfer boosts physical activity and gross motor skill development. Plus, Little Surfer benefits children’s imagination and creativity-inspiring Littles to relax, jump and stretch for daily exercise. For ages 12mo to 6 yrs.✔️ Self Confidence Learning Toy✔️ Gross Motor Skill Development✔️ Muscle Growth and Balance Control✔️ Expands Creativity and Quiet Time✔️ Premium Quality and Design

  ✔️ Created by Lily & River Workshop

  ✔️ Dimensions: 30 x 10 x 10 inches

7) Sensory Bin Toy: Wooden Waldorf Wooden Scoops and Tongs for Transfer

• The toy set includes scoops, tongs, cups, and pots that stimulate fine motor skills and sensory play. Small tools and materials, perfect for children’s hands. 
• This perfect Montessori toy for toddlers comes with an eco-friendly drawstring bag for storing toys. 

8) Shape Sorter

• Introduce early math skills and problem-solving with this Plan Toys® Shape Sorter. Plan Toys® is the first company in the world to manufacture toys from reclaimed rubberwood to provide a more sustainable solution for playtime.
• Stacking toys are crafted from solid rubberwood.
• The base is made from PlanWood. PlanWood is a high-density fiber composite wood made from reclaimed wood particles leftover from the manufacturing process of toys in the factory. Finished in child-safe, water-based paint.
• Benefits of play are Improved fine motor skills, visual and spatial perception, balance, trunk, and gross motor protective responses, and creative play, among other benefits.

9) Lily & River Little Climber With Reversible Rock Wall/Slide

• Little rock climbers to-be will love the Lilly & River Little Climber with its reversible rock-wall and slide. This innovative indoor climbing gym will keep them busy for hours: scrambling, sliding, developing gross motor skills, and working on balance.
• Lily & River Little Climber is built with long-term durability, functionality, and aesthetics in place.
• Main Climber and ladder/slide accessories are expertly crafted from natural sustainably sourced Bamboo wood, which is extremely strong, sustainable, and naturally beautiful. Finished in zero-VOC, non-toxic water-based white paint with sealant on dowels.
• Includes is the Little Climber read-along board book written and illustrated by the creator of Lily & River for his two daughters, Lily and River.
• Play builds self-confidence, gross motor skills, balance, muscle growth, and creativity.

10) Be The Band Wooden Music Table

• Bring out their inner rockstar with our wooden music table. They can practice their drum solos or have jam sessions with friends (real or of the stuffed animal persuasion). With modern black-and-white details, the drum set, xylophone, and maracas are all thoughtfully made and beautifully designed, so this is something you won’t mind leaving out on display. Sounds pretty good, right? This wooden music table is a Crate & Kids exclusive – so pretty!

Where Can I Find Montessori Toys?

Montessori toys for your little one are widely available on the market or can be made at home using everyday household materials. There is a wide range of toys that feature different colors, sensory items, natural materials, and shapes to appeal to children’s interests while learning basic motor skills development.

The best toys for your child will depend entirely on their age and interests, but toys for stacking (like this one), shape sorters (like this one), wood puzzles (like these ones) are great for teaching children about shapes and colors.

Conclusion

Using toys for toddlers to help develop motor skills is a great idea! Toys that encourage the repetition of physical movements in the same way over and over again (such as puzzles or stacking toys) are beneficial in developing hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. The best toys are ones that your child enjoys, so it may be helpful to try different toys out before deciding on one!

SHOP THESE TOYS

1) Wooden Carrots Harvest Shape Size Sorting Game | 2) Wooden Montessori Ball Tracker | 3) 26-Piece City & ABC Wooden Puzzle Playset | 4) Kids Wooden Bowling Set | 5) Wooden Rainbow Balancing Stacking Stones (made of beechwood) |6) Little Surfer by Lily & River | Balance, Play, and Rest | 7) Sensory Bin Toy: Wooden Waldorf Wooden Scoops and Tongs for Transfer | 8) Shape Sorter | 9) Lily & River Little Climber With Reversible Rock Wall/Slide | 10) Be The Band Wooden Music Table