- Hello, lovely people.
Hi, it is 9:00 PM at night,
so please excuse me if I am a little bit tired
whilst filming this
because I was meant to film this earlier
but then we have a leak in the ceiling
and there was a builder here.
It's very exciting.
I am about to become the mother to a two-year-old.
That makes me sound like I'm adopting a two-year-old.
I have had my child for the last almost two years.
He's just almost turning two.
I told you I was tired.
So I thought it would be really nice to do a little video
that was about things we have found really useful
between the ages of one and two.
'Cause a lot of people do
the kind of things that have really helped
in my first year with a baby,
which is obviously really great
and it's really good to know
the kind of newborn essentials
and then bigger baby essentials.
But when it comes to that young toddler stage
they're just kind of...
The stuff that you need, what is the stuff?
So in this video, I'm not really gonna be covering
the kind of toys that I think are great,
materials for your child to play with, things like that.
Instead, I'm gonna go more for things that, for parents,
are actually quite useful and helpful.
In terms of parenting style,
we are definitely Montessori-aligned.
Rupert attends a Montessori school in the mornings.
And at home, his life is structured in much the same way.
If you don't know what Montessori story is, I have a video
all about it right here.
But really it's a lot to do with kind
of helping the child be as independent as possible.
So it's having things that are sized to him
having things that he is able to use himself
having things that he is able to to do himself rather
than have us do things for him
and really allowing him to be just as
as independent as possible and feel within himself.
That inner drive to succeed, help me to help myself is one
of the like key Montessori things is very much based
around preparing your child's environment
in the way that they're able to succeed
in a task and fill that inner enjoyment and the
the pride of having succeeded
in something without having to look for external validation.
You can see previous similar videos I've done here
including one I did when he was 18 months old
which is like best gifts for a Montessori one year old
which was around Christmas time.
Number one.
One of the most helpful things that I think we have found
that Rupert loves is his learning tower
and there are different names for them.
Learning tower I think is the most used name in the circles.
I use Kitchen Steps
basically something that aids your child
in being able to get up to the kitchen counter
so they can assist in various things around the kitchen.
Rupert loves his
for being able to do practical life activities.
It Montessori, that's what they called anything that's
you know, kind as it sounds
really practical life things around the house.
So he likes doing a little cooking type things
we like to bake together, which we do on the island
kitchen island and the tower allows him to climb up
be able to stand on it easily and he can hold the bowl
and bake and it has a surround around him
so that I don't worry too much about him falling backwards
which I might do if there were just some step.
He also uses it for helping
with unloading the dishwasher, which he loves doing
has done since before we got the learning tower.
But the learning tower really assisted
because it means he can get up to the top
the top shelf of the dishwasher.
We first got the learning tower when he was 14
months old I'm going to say.
And he's been able to climb up himself
although I do know people who've had theirs earlier
and just kind of popped the child in there.
He wants to be really involved in these kind of activities.
So he's very interested in getting his hands on things.
Oh and scrambled eggs.
It's one
of the only things he uses directly does the heat with.
We haven't yet moved on
to doing any kind of stir fry with him.
He just does scrambled eggs because I think I'm less worried
about heat when it comes to scrambled eggs.
I don't think the actual scrambled eggs are
gonna go anywhere.
Number two, his little bicycle.
I rave about this bicycle all the time.
It's not super, no, lots
of people are very into balance bikes
and I completely understand that, many children
who are a lot more physical children who are very mm
up on the gross motor, love their balance bikes.
But for Rupert
his gross motor was slightly delayed on those milestones.
So for him when we got, he got a tricycle
for his first birthday and it made the world a difference.
I swear this tricycle is what helped him learn to walk
in two months to give you an idea
of how delayed he was in those milestones
he learned to sit up from lying down at 11
and a half months old is normally something I think you do
at six months old.
So he was a little bit late to the game there.
And then for his first birthday
which was two weeks after this, he got given a tricycle
by his amazing Uncle Jones and Aunty Emily, thank you.
He just loved it
and he started using it as a sort of Zimmer frame.
So he had his leg over it and he'd walk
around the kitchen with it and he realized eventually
that he didn't need the bike, he could let go
and that he was actually walking all by himself
and the bike became more of a hindrance than a help.
Also, it's a really cute tricycle.
Now I mentioned that Rupert was not one
for the gross motor skills, but he has been
from a very young age obsessed with language.
So this is something that
if you also have a child who is a book obsessive
you're gonna need, it's a book rack.
It is an amazing rack
for board books that allows your child the independence
of being able to choose the book they want to read
and very easily pick it
out when the books are all stacked together
and then they learn to put the book back on the rack
which is just a lovely thing to watch and gives them, again
that independence of being able to say, oh
I'm going to take myself to my book corner.
I shall sit down, pick out the book I would like to read
have a little read and put it back.
Next potties, obviously have to talk about potties.
I made a whole video about toilet learning
and elimination communication to that one here.
I think that the type
of potty that you try really can make such a huge difference
to your child's interest in going to the potty
trying the potty, blah blah blah, blah.
We have tried every
almost every most portable potties there are.
And he is not, he's not a fan.
We've also tried the little seat that you carry around
with you and then you just pop it onto the adult seat.
Absolutely not, also not happening largely
because I think he's just quite small boned
and the hole is too large.
Your child, if you are having difficulty
with potty learning, potty training
any of these kinds of things, consider the potty
and see if that might be one of the issues.
We have two different types of the baby born potty
and because we started using the potty
with Rupert when he was eight months old, but not quite
he wasn't quite steady holding himself up.
So I originally got him the potty that had a back.
However interestingly, that one is actually higher
from the ground than this one here.
So that was an interesting thing to learn
and I wish it was the other way around, but it's not, potty
with a higher back, better for younger children
but also too high off the ground.
The height makes it good
for older children is have a little toilet seat
which actually has a splash guard at the front
which is really great.
And on a related note, loose clothing, especially
if you're trying to teach a little one, how to get dressed
and undressed by themselves so that they feel super
empowered to be able to do things themselves.
And if you have a strong girl child who is gonna do it
it definitely helps with any issues that you have
in the morning to just be like
you choose your clothes, you do it.
This one or this one.
Which are you wearing?
Are you wearing that one?
Brilliant put it on, go.
We've actually managed to find some really good kind
of loose fitting, easily removable by toddlers.
I know, I love I'm saying this
there are definitely people who are
like my toddler definitely can take their own clothes off,
it's trying to keep the clothes on.
That's the issue.
And indeed the teaching them to put the clothes back
on may help with that.
Oh my god, I'm just yawning, H&M are some
of the best for little shorts that I have found
because the elastic is not too tight.
They actually have a little button inside
that you can make it tighter or looser, tighter or loose.
But these ones are delightfully large
so he's quite able to put his own legs in.
And then the elastic is so stretchy
that it does actually go up.
And then stay on and it terms with tops.
Uniqlo have been really amazing.
Generally we want to be looking
for tops that aren't too long in the sleeve
cause we don't want to be sleeves to be getting all
in the way and like dirty, interfering
bothering with what they're busy doing right now.
It needs to be able to go over the head very
very easily for a small child.
Okay, this one next
I don't know, not necessarily Montessori.
It's just something I think toddler should have.
A small bag absolutely vital through our life
with a toddler we've found is a tiny bag.
We've found that the little bag is incredibly helpful
in any situations that involve waiting
whether that be in a restaurant, in a doctor waiting room
maybe you are just waiting for the bus.
The little bag saves the day
with the treasures and he really likes the fact
that he can put it over his front shoulder
carry it around with himself and out and about.
And then whenever he wants to, he can just pop it open
get something out, have a little play.
And finally, mats.
I found mats have just been really helpful.
We have a lot of different types of mats that we bring
out based on what he has chosen from his shelf to play with.
Rupert's toys and Montessori materials are arranged
on two different console tables that we've have
little shelves on them so everything is set
out and he can easily take things down
and put them either on a little table
or down on the floor on a mat based on what it is.
Here's one amazing, which is a world map from Gathrid.
Stunning, so this map, it's the
it's a world map and it's quite plain.
It does have all the countries mapped
out on it does have some countries named and labeled
but not all of them.
So it's not an overwhelming amount of letters.
And he loves setting out all of his animals on this map.
Where did this animal come from?
Oh it goes there?
Okay, where does this animal live?
Oh it goes there, right?
So highly recommend having some plane mats
and some maps that you can interact with.
I know I just said that was the end, but at the actual end
I really think it's important though, especially
if your child is doing sort of a Montessori
in a more structured setting and environment
in a school to make sure that
at home you have both closed and open-ended toys.
Because Montessori toys are developed
with a very specific developmental goal in mind.
They're not just to have fun with, they're sort
of to support the child's very like natural development
in a specific area and their growth stage
whether it's to encourage independence
or maybe it's to improve their just fine motor skills.
If you're putting little pegs in your peg board
maybe you are helping with
your problem solving skills
because you're doing a puzzle or your memory generally.
It all helps them build good concentration as well.
And the idea is that there is a completion point as well
that they are able to say, ah, I have done this
I have achieved it, I understand this now, right?
And they feel a sense of, I have satisfaction
personal satisfaction in that task.
I think at home it's also really good to have things
like blocks, just lots of blocks
in a little basket that they can build and really experiment
with gravity and use their problem solving skills there
in a kind of engineering sense that it isn't so much a
I have completed it, I have solved it,
but just what happens if?
I hope that helped and gave you some ideas
for things to do or things you might want to look into.
And thank you so much to the Kellgren-Fozard Club
for making videos like this possible.
They're my wonderful membership club here
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Thank you so much for watching
and I will see you in my next video.
Bye-bye.
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