Montessori play is all about childhood exploration, imaginative play, and manipulating an object in a multi-sensory way that helps with their development. Rather than sitting in front of a screen, or an electronic toy that lights up and plays music, Montessori toys are bare-bones in nature, letting kids learn through all of their senses rather than just observing. Shop the best Montessori toys here with options for children as young as 12 months and as old as six years.
Our Review
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon If you’re looking for a Montessori toy for a one-year-old, this is an ideal option to help with their learning and development. Not only will they practice sorting the colors based on the color of the cup, but can also practice stacking cups, teaching them to balance, coordination, and more. This teaches kids to identify what colors are alike, and which are different, a very basic but important skill to master in their early years.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon Children under three years of age will love this Montessori approved number sorter and stacker, which will help them learn to count, identify colors, refine their motor skills and more. They’ll spend hours not only stacking the rings but learning which color goes with which number and counting out the correct amount.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon This Montessori inspired clock toy will grow with your child as it included 12 removable blocks that they can use as early as 12 months old, learning to identify shapes and colors. As they grow the shapes and numbers might become second nature, but pre-school age kids will be able to start telling time without a digital clock, an important skill to instill in young kids.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon This toddler’s instrument set is worth the investment for several reasons. Not only are the instruments good quality with a nice sound, but they appear to be smaller versions of the real deal rather than plastic replicas that barely play music. There’s a nice variety of instruments so your toddler can learn various tones and sounds and your child won’t get bored with just one or two instruments.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon Getting dressed by oneself is a pretty critical skill and mastering it is quite the accomplishment for young tots. This activity board not only keeps them entertained, but also teaches them the basics of getting dressed like tying, buckling, snapping, and more. It also helps fire the connections in their brain as they relate to motor skills and hand-eye coordination. This toy is ideal for kids two years old to five years old.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon If you’re looking for some Montessori toys that you can take on the go, this lightweight option is perfect for travel. The threader will help your child with hand-eye coordination as they try to weave the caterpillar through each of the existing holes. It’s also wonderful for keeping energetic children calm and focused in situations where they can’t be rambunctious.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon This puzzle requires some brainpower and can be used for a wide variety of ages, creating a calm and focused play environment. Once your child gets to the end, they might have to move some pieces around to make the final pieces work, making it a real challenge. After the puzzle is completed, they can dump it out and do it again. Even younger children will love piecing the wood blocks together with some help from a caregiver.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon If you’re looking to buy some Montessori approved toys for your tot, the Lewo Wooden Rainbow Stacking Game is a wonderful option. The arched color blocks allow imagination to take over, with so many possibilities. The blocks can be used as tunnels, little houses, hills, rocking chairs or beds for little dolls, with so many other ideas to discover. Children can learn colors, work on their motor skills, coordination, and more.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon This gift is not only fun for kids but also teaches them so many great things. Giving children a sense of purpose has been proven to help with their behavior and is also a nice form of entertainment. The cleaning kit inspires pretend play as well as helps with coordination and fine motor skills. The bright colors are kid-friendly and inviting and the set is very well made.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon This Hape Pound & Tap Bench with Slide Out Xylophone is a great Montessori toy, with tons of options for play. The toy helps with fine motor skills and development as children can learn how to hammer the balls, play the sounds on the xylophone and chase and place the balls where they belong. Children who play with this toy are also working on their hand-eye coordination and learning colors. This toy is ideal for children 12 months to 3 years old.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon This Montessori approved rocking toy really allows a child’s brain to take over. It can be climed in, sat on, rocked, rolled over, crawled under and more. It can be a boat, a bridge, a bed and whatever else your child’s imagination comes up with. The clean look allows it to be placed in any adult space without taking over and is a worthwhile investment your child will use for years to come.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon Each bee in this matching toy corresponds to one of the spaces in the hive, as marked by color. Younger kids can simply use their hands to place the bee in the correct spot, while older kids will love the challenge of using the tweezer, a real fine motor challenge for those who are advanced. This toy helps with basic math concepts, colors, numbers, matching and more and is an awesome Montessori toy.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon Puzzles can be tricky for little ones until their fine motor skills and spacial recognition are more developed, but as it goes with most things in life, practice makes perfect. This starter set of puzzles only has four or so pieces in each, with a little bit of help from the outline of the animal. The puzzles are each made with bright, bold and vibrant colors that kids will love.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon Toddlers will love the fascinating Play22 Wooden Car Ramps Race, with a continuous motion from the top to the bottom once the care is placed on the track. The colorful toy is beneficial for stimulating curiosity, cultivating fine motor skills and helping kids to understand the laws of physics, even at a very early age. The toy is made of high-quality wood and non-toxic water-based paints.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon This puzzle is a wonderful tool for color recognition and understanding of various shapes, great for toddlers and preschoolers. The developmental aid of a puzzle-like this includes motor skills, visual-spatial skills and also inspires imagination. The puzzle is well made with high-quality wood and soft edges, perfect for a small child.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon If your child is anything like mine, there’s nothing they love more than splashing around in the kitchen sink and “helping” with the dishes. With a small pump, the sink actually works and produces water which kids will love. They can practice by washing their toys and the pretend dishes and utensils that come with the set in a safe environment.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon Do you like spending time gardening? Encourage your child to join you. This Monestorri toy inspires kids to learn about the earth, gardening, sustainability, and even if they’re young, they’ll love spending some time outdoors and not in front of a screen. The eco-friendly set is entirely waste and plastic free and is built to last for years.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon Let your child imagine and build an entire city with this building block set. It includes 133 pieces of wooden building blocks with blocks for hotels, banks, police and fire stations and more. It also has traffic lights, trees, and everything else you would find in a city. The blocks vary in shapes and sizes and can come together in numerous ways. This toy is best suited for children three years and older.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon You have probably seen a plethora of faux fruit and veggie sets on the market for children. What we like best about this set is that it’s not comprised of the whole piece, but instead fractions of fruit that come together to make a whole. While playing with this playset your child will be learning parts and wholes, which are essential for developing their math skills. They’ll also engage in imaginative play, which is so important for children’s development.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon These stepping stones are an awesome Montesorri toy for kids who love to move and explore. They have rubber bottoms to prevent slipping and four various sizes depending on the child’s age. The toy helps develop balance, reflex, and build confidence and creativity as they build their own obstacle course. The stepping stones are a toy that can keep any child occupied for hours on end.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon This beautiful Montessori stacking toy develops fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and a sense of order for children to use. While younger kids around one year old might only stack the rings haphazardly, older kids will understand that the larger rings must be placed at the bottom and smaller rings towards the top. The rings are made with real wood and non toxic paints and are easy for children to grasp.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon This 16-piece set has tons of options to inspire imaginative play within your child, which is the foundation of Montessori. The package includes a peg doll for play along with the tree set, swing, and several other items that can be used in a variety of ways. The wood pieces are well-made with smooth edges that your child can easily grasp. There are several other related sets that you can purchase along with this one like camping, dining, and more to inspire additional scenarios.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon Help your child develop their fruit and vegetable recognition along with color recognition with these sorting baskets. This is a great way to expand vocabulary, work on motor skills (as they place the veggies into each basket) and learn patterns by identifying fruits and vegetables of the same color. This is ideal for ages three years and older, but can be used as young as two years old with some help from parents.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon Put some rice or sand in a pin with these SimplytoPlay Sensory Bin Tools and let your child explore and play for hours on end. Sensory bins help with fine motor skills, as they fill up and pour out the contents. The tools are the perfect size for little hands with smooth, rounded, edges and high-quality wood.
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Shop now at Amazon From Amazon This is the perfect starting building block set for kids to learn and explore and goes far beyond a standard block. The blocks are filled with sand and gel for even more sensory exploration, each with unique colors and shapes. The blocks help your child differentiate between color and size. They’re a decent size too, and a well-constructed toy that will last for years and years to come.