DIY Montessori Inspired Activities

Hi friends! Today I am co-hosting the Not Just a Mom link up with some of my favorite blogger ladies...

Adrienne @ Mom Life with Adrienne

Lauren @ Don't Mind Our Mess

Dara @ Not in Jersey

Sarita @ It's My Girl's World

If you haven't seen our posts before, they are lots of fun.

January was our first link up, and we shared some introductions.

February we focused in on date nights.

March was all about self-care.

April was a time for cleaning routines, perfect for Spring.

May we shared our fitness routines. Side note, I don't have one so it's not worth reading about.

In June we shared fun facts about us.

July was all about how we do girl time (much needed, right?)

August was about back to school routines, which I skipped because my little one isn't in school yet.

September was all skincare & make up.

And today we are sharing how we get crafty!!! Now I am not the craftiest person out there, but I certainly do try. As I have shared previously, we have been incorporating Montessori methods of learning and parenting in our home. I posted about it here, if you're curious! While I drool over some other blogger Mom's set-ups and play rooms, it's just not feasible for us right now in our tiny apartment. We don't have the space nor do we have an unlimited budget for our activities. And Montessori materials and activities can be really expensive. More often than not, they are made of high quality materials- like wood- making them a bit pricey. I tried to pull out my crafty side and made our own activities at a much lower cost.

Coin Box

I got the little wooden box/drawer at Michaels craft store for only $2.50. I used a drill at home to make the opening in the top and we had the buttons at home in our craft supplies. I am going to get some sandpaper to smooth it out a bit, and might consider painting the drawer as well, but it functions well as is! Not too shabby for less than $3.

Our inspiration is almost $25.

Space Matching Game

Space was our 2nd learning unit and I really wanted to get Ella a matching game. I realized this is something that could easily be recreated at home. I just grabbed some wooden circles and stickers from the craft store and put a thick layer of mod podge over everything. The circles were $2 and the stickers were $1.50. I found the drawstring bag at home.

Another space match memory game was almost $15 online.

Bead Threader

We used these wooden beads to create our own bead-threading activity. The thread and beads were cheap cheap at the craft store, probably less than 3$. Other bead threader toys can range from 10-25$.

I also used a wooden dowel and a wooden circle with some hot glue to create this stacking activity. I was going to paint them but I love the minimalist look right now. I may change my mind- we'll see. This is similar to the bead threading activity and helps Ella with her fine motor and hand-eye coordination.

While I am definitely not the craftiest woman out there, I do like trying to make things myself when possible. My craftiness and creativity definitely comes out when I am trying to create activities for Ella.

Thanks for checking out my short post today, and be sure to join us next month.