The Montessori education approach is an excellent and useful teaching tool for kids. According to Dr. Maria Montessori, repetition is one of the root foundations of Montessori-style learning.
For example, children explore visual discrimination, the concepts of order and symmetry, and differentiation of size, and develop fine motor skills, while learning to assemble and disassemble the dolls repeatedly.
But what kind of playhouse is Montessori-approved? Which dolls come under Montessori dolls? Let’s keep reading to find out.
What Makes A Doll Montessori-Aligned?
Children require a solid grounding in the actual world if parents and teachers want to educate them in a Montessori manner. Therefore, in the Montessori approach to education, dollhouses are sometimes appropriate.
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Dollhouses should be built with natural materials, like timber, and their home furnishing must be as lifelike as possible to be Montessori-aligned. And you can carry out a few more modifications, such as replacing the plastic furniture with wooden ones in an existing wooden doll house to make it more Montessori-like.
The core of the Montessori approach is self-directed learning. For example, children can learn by playing alone and with other children using a Montessori dollhouse.
Toys that are overly colored, move, talk, sing, create noise, or are otherwise excessively distracting don’t fit the Montessori philosophy. Instead, children are entertained and engaged by Montessori toys in ways that maintain their fascination and keep their curiosity high while playing.
Check out our article on What is a Montessori Toy?
All dollhouses, including doll furnishings, must be as realistic as possible because Montessori emphasizes realism.
The Montessori dollhouse made from wood must resemble a real home that your kids see in the outer world. Likewise, the furnishings inside should preferably be miniature versions of actual pieces of furniture rather than just plastic, false furniture.
Different Types Of Montessori Dolls And The Benefits Of Each
Ideally, Montessori toys and materials are constructed from natural materials. The build of the toy is straightforward, which helps the kid develop skills based on the subject of development. The following are a few important dolls used in Montessori play:
#1 Nesting Dolls
A giant doll with five smaller dolls within is called a nesting doll. Nesting dolls help children understand the concept of comparison primarily.
This brightly-colored wooden toy is filled with smaller versions of itself. Such as, when they open the first one, they find a smaller version within. It challenges them when they begin to reassemble it and helps them understand the concept of order.
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The rich colors and the personalities depicted by these Russian-origin wooden dolls can be offered to your kid as anything from a family to loads of historical figures. In addition, you can purchase several varieties of them for different purposes and mix-match them to make it a fun guessing game.
Montessori nesting dolls offer the following advantages:
- Preschoolers who enjoy nesting dolls can continue gaining fine motor skills, enhanced focus, and establishing concentration.
- Montessori nesting dolls come in various beautiful, inventive designs that instantly capture children’s hearts. The kid’s ideas might become organized while learning how to fit them together.
- They learn to differentiate between big and small due to the repeated sorting of the big and small parts of the toy.
#2 Peg Dolls
Peg dolls come in various designs, colors, and themes. From seasons to colors, you can teach the children anything you like using these dolls. You can make them on your own or purchase them online, where many sellers readily offer customization options.
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A small thing to remember is to watch out for kids who might put things in their mouths because such dolls can cause choking risks and aren’t meant for kids under three.
But, on the other hand, you get to enjoy the following benefits with these Montessori dolls:
- The Montessori peg dolls made from wood are ideal for teaching children about colors.
- They are fantastic for free-form play that stimulates a child’s creativity.
- A collection of wooden handmade Montessori peg dolls that your child can use for tiny world play will grow with them.
- The Montessori peg dolls go great with play mats, creating play opportunities and incorporating your additional sensory kits into the sets, playhouses, and Montessori doll houses.
- Handmade wood Montessori peg dolls are fantastic for adding a small-world play element to block play.
#3 Realistic & Anatomically Correct Dolls
When it comes to helping kids learn social-emotional skills and respect people from different backgrounds, Montessori dolls are great. Children love playing with dolls modeled on such traits because they help them understand the fundamentals of the Montessori teaching method.
Role-playing with dolls encourages children to nurture and love others, a trait that comes naturally to them. Like they can with a real baby, kids can shower, clothe, nourish, put them to sleep, and take care of dolls.
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Playing with an anatomically accurate baby doll helps kids learn about the human body’s anatomy. Therefore, the Montessori educational approach does not involve unrealistic doll play.
Children can instead understand how to role-play, which aids in developing SEL (social-emotional learning). In addition, by interacting with baby dolls, kids easily grasp interpersonal skills and hand-eye coordination. The wide range of advantages you get with Montessori realistic dolls are as below:
- Developing a well-rounded worldview: Many doll manufacturers produce multicultural dolls that teach kids that there are many different races and ethnicities worldwide.
- Improving Motor Skills: Children clothe and unclothe baby dolls repeatedly, which helps them hone and improve their motor skills.
- Increasing Self-Esteem: Research has shown that teaching youngsters the proper anatomical terminology helps them feel more confident about their bodies. The presence of a doll that closely resembles the youngster boosts their self-esteem by reassuring them that others do exist who resemble them.
- Learning about anatomy: Because the toys depict the main characteristics of each sex, kids can gain a deeper understanding of both their gender and that of others.
- Self-Care Education: Parents can show their kids how to take care of the baby doll, which teaches them how to care for themselves. Self-Care in Montessori is related.
- Value education: Since many multicultural dolls are available, giving children dolls of different ethnicities helps teach them to value and appreciate people from diverse cultural origins.
Conclusion
The Montessori dolls play method gives the child the most lifelike objects. Bitty Babies lack Miniland dolls’ anatomical accuracy. However, they like sorting our colors and get fascinated by dolls.
The youngsters find it magical to put a baby on a bed who can close their eyes because these dolls do so when lying down. In addition, they are easier and more comfortable to carry about because of their soft body. Along with providing company, all these toys present numerous teaching opportunities.