Montessori: A hands-on learning approach

What is Montessori?

Developed by Maria Montessori in the 20th century, Montessori is an alternative educational approach to formal teaching methods that allows children to embrace their independence and learn using their natural instincts. Having been used for decades, it is popular in today’s nurseries, classrooms and homes due its flexibility, putting the child at the centre of their learning and individualisation of education.

Montessori is based on the idea that children all have their own specific needs and should be provided with learning materials to suit their individual learning pace. It favours hands-on learning over typical desk-based work, allowing more opportunities for children to explore and make creative choices.

What are the 5 key areas of Montessori?

There are five core principles to the Montessori method that help understand what Montessori is all about:

1. Respect for the child – Treating each child as an individual with unique potential. Allowing them to learn at their own pace and make their own choices.
2. The absent mind – It’s believed that young children have the capacity to absorb information without conscious effort.
3. Sensitive periods – There are specific times in a child’s development where they are more receptive to learning new skills and concepts, this time will differ from child to child.
4. The prepared environment – The learning environment design to facilitate independent learning and exploration with age-appropriate materials.
5. Auto-education – Children learning through self-directed play, activity and exploration.

What are the benefits of Montessori Education?

To help you understand more about this unique learning style, we've put together some of the key benefits of Montessori education for early years settings. 

Encourages early independence

With the Montessori approach, teachers and practitioners are instructed to act as a 'guide' to children rather than using traditional teaching methods. They aim to provide a stimulating learning environment and resources to allow children to explore and approach activities freely instead of directly telling children what to do. This more 'relaxed' approach enables children to experiment and learn how to do things independently with minimal instruction from an adult. 

Nurtures social, emotional and leadership skills

Children have many opportunities to work closely with their peers in a Montessori environment. Working together allows children to practice their social skills when interacting with their peers and interpret emotional reactions from conversations. Montessori learning spaces generally include children of mixed ages, allowing younger children to observe and learn behaviours from their older peers. It also allows older children to work on their leadership skills as they guide their younger peers through activities. 

Fosters problem-solving and critical thinking skills

Montessori favours play-based, independent learning rather than standard desk-based work. This hands-on, child-led approach can give children plenty of opportunities to practice problem-solving and critical thinking. When a child struggles with an activity, teachers and practitioners ask questions to prompt them to solve the problem and avoid answering immediately where possible. These questions ultimately help provide children with the decision-making and logical thinking skills they need as they grow older. An example of a prompting question may be, 'Is there something else we could try?' or 'What do you think we should do?'. 

Sparks creativity and imagination

There are endless opportunities for children to get creative and use their imagination in a Montessori learning environment. With the gentle guidance given to them by their teachers, they can approach tasks from a variety of different angles, which isn't always the case when children are given clear-set instructions that they must follow. 

Develops fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination

In a Montessori environment, children have more time to work on practising essential physical development skills. Practical life activities, common in Montessori classrooms, are especially beneficial for encouraging children to use their small muscle movements and coordination with the hand and eye. Some examples of these activities would be making a snack, polishing a table or spooning grains. These activities are also important for young children to learn as they help support essential life skills they will need later in life. 

What to avoid in a Montessori environment?

1. Behaviours that disrupt learning
   Yelling, hitting, or disrespecting others are not tolerated. Instead, children are guided to express emotions constructively and resolve conflicts peacefully.
   Interrupting others’ work or invading personal space goes against the principle of respecting others’ concentration and autonomy.
2. Disrespecting the environment
   Children are expected to care for their materials and space—leaving messes, misusing tools, or ignoring cleanup routines is discouraged.
   The classroom is a shared space, so order and cleanliness are part of the learning experience.
3. Lack of purposeful activity
   Wandering aimlessly or engaging in activities that don’t serve a learning goal is gently redirected. Freedom in Montessori is always paired with responsibility and intention.
4. Arbitrary rules or punishment
   You won’t find timeouts or reward charts in authentic Montessori settings. Discipline is rooted in natural consequences and self-awareness, not external control.
5. Forced sharing or compliance
   Children aren’t forced to share or participate in group activities. Instead, they’re taught to understand others’ needs and make thoughtful choices.
   In short, anything that undermines respect for oneself, others, or the environment is not allowed. These boundaries aren’t rigid, they’re a framework that helps children thrive independently and compassionately.

What are Montessori toys?

Montessori toys focus on hands-on learning, self-directed play and collaborative activity. These toys and resources are often made from natural materials such as wood, designed to be simple but engaging. Open ended play that support imagination helps to support a child’s independence, cognitive skills and sensory development rather than toys designed just to provide entertainment. and This allows children to explore, discover and learn through their own experiences. 

Characteristics of Montessori toys

• Natural materials such as cotton, wood, metal.
• Focus on simple colours, shapes and textures.
• Simple or minimalistic design with no electronics or flashing lights.
• Real-life connections that mimic real-life objects or situations to aid children in their understanding of the world.
• Toys are designed to be self-correcting, allowing children to understand and fix their mistakes encouraging independence and exploration.

YPO's top Montessori toys

We’ve put together a list of our favourite Montessori toys and their benefits
Montessori Fastening Frames (309125)
• Real world applications
• Promotes independence such as getting dressed, fastening buttons, zips and buckles. 
• Made from sustainably sourced materials and feature bright but simple colours. 

Fun with Chalk - Wooden Cubes-Fun with Chalk (427959)
• Chalk surfaces provide endless possibilities to learn about numbers, letters, phonics and shapes. 
• Sustainable New Zealand pine.
• Stacking and sorting to help improve cognitive development and fine motor skills.

Montessori Starter Set (309124)
• Provide opportunities to improve problem solving skills by sorting and playing
• Sustainably sourced wood
• Bright colours to engage younger children.

SiliSoft Gears Puzzle (309454)
• Engage children in maths through varying shapes and spaces.
• The six gears contain different centrepieces helping children with their physical development, fine motor skills and encouraging problem solving.

tickit Mirror Blocks - 24 Pack (800703)
• Incorporate into small world play to promote imaginative play.
• Add colour and textures to explore light, reflection and patterns.
• Build and create structures to improve hand eye coordination. 
• Guides lessons on symmetry shape and space throughout early childhood.

Explore YPOs wide range of Montessori toys and resources for all ages.