One hundred and fifty years after the birth of Maria Montessori, the child neuropsychiatrist, creator of one of the best known and most adopted educational systems in thousands of schools in the world, she 'plays' again and more and more with her children.
The toys inspired by his educational method (which does not aim at performance but accompanies the nature of the little ones) are increasingly numerous as well as the dedicated furniture lines.
Amazon's 'Montessori educational games' section already has over a hundred and
'Montessori' toys are increasing
on all major online platforms
.
In wood or natural materials, they aim for direct learning by children, preached by the educator as a cornerstone of growth.
They range from towers to interlocking cubes to tables for tools and handicrafts to construction, from mathematical ladders to learning blackboards, from children's houses to toy 'lacing' (to spontaneously solve one of the first big obstacles for children , like tying your shoes), from cubes to stackable rings.
Among the 'Montessori' games there are even watches and chess for babies, as well as a wide range of books for first reading.
Real games are placed side by side with the other materials sold to make homes accessible to the little ones because at the base of the method is the environment in which the child grows, who has to experience direct life.
Although, the Montessori National Opera (ONM), the official training and dissemination body of the method, informs Ansa,
there are no 'branded' Montessori games but only activities that are inspired by the activity of the most renowned pedagogue in the world
.
The original teaching, in fact,
does not foresee the game as an end in itself but activities aimed at the growth of children
through the use of special materials (which are manufactured exclusively by a carpentry company that distributes them to schools in the peninsula) designed by the same. Maria Montessori for teachers and schoolchildren.
The games are used to 'help children to do it on their own' and to 'have fun learning by themselves'
, the educator repeated, revolutionizing school teaching methods in a historical period in which schools were set on rigid rules, impositions, teachings' from 'high', hierarchies and punishments that today, fortunately, no longer exist.
If the business of 'Montessori' games is free, there are also activities created in collaboration with the ONM, such as the publication of a series of children's books (published by Clementoni in 2018).
And now, to pay homage to the 150th anniversary of Maria Montessori's birth, the same producer has launched a box that contains a collection of activities inspired by the Motessori method: letters, numbers and animals (those at risk of extinction have been chosen to raise awareness of the little ones respect for nature and the planet) equipped with special shapes and surfaces to combine with cards, tokens and tags.
And for next Christmas, a further increase in the offer of 'Montessori' games is expected.