Montessori and Waldorf Toys: Which One is Better For Your Kids?
As parents, the top of your priority list is to make sure that your kids are equipped with all the right knowledge and skills they need to succeed in life. You would also want them to be healthy and happy. To achieve these goals for your children, it is important to start early by providing toys that will develop creativity, coordination, decision making, and reasoning skills.
One of the most important gifts that you can provide your child is knowledge about different toys. Knowing which toy to buy for their kids will determine how bright they turn out in life. With this in mind, parents are often left clueless when choosing the right toys for their children. The two types of educational toys that are known to be helpful in a child's development are Montessori and Waldorf toys.
Montessori educational material is based on Maria Montessori's philosophy of education, while Waldorf educational material follows the principles of Rudolf Steiner for early childhood education. Both Montessori and Waldorf toys are recommended for children. For parents who are stuck between choosing which educational toy to buy, here is a comparison of how each method works to help your kids.
What are Montessori toys?
Montessori educational material is based on Maria Montessori's philosophy of education. According to montessorians, parents and teachers should not start teaching before the age of three or four as children at that time are like empty vessels ready to be filled with knowledge and skills. Montessori believes that toddlers can absorb all the information they need through their senses.
Montessori toys are meant to be attractive to toddlers' senses, including touch, scent, feel, sight and sound. The materials should also be practical because children tend to focus on an activity for only 10 or 15 minutes at a time. That is why Montessori educational material focuses on the three important aspects of the child: the physical, emotional and cognitive.
Most Montessori educational material deals with learning concepts such as shape, color, size, position and movement. These toys differ from most other children's toys in that they are more abstract. The main goal of a Montessori toy is to help toddlers recognize abstract concepts that they can then apply to the real world.
For example, a Montessori toy can help toddlers learn concepts such as shape by letting them explore shapes through chunks of wood or cardboard with holes cut out for each shape. Toddlers would then put different shape pieces into appropriate holes according to size. Through this activity, they will learn that small circles go into small holes, while large circles go into larger holes.
The advantage of Montessori toys is that they are very conducive to self-learning. Children can learn on their own or with their friends because the toy activities engage them physically and emotionally. Some children respond better to play than to being taught. For these kids, Montessori self-directed learning materials are great.
Montessori toys help children develop skills such as creative play, coordination, problem solving and reasoning abilities. For instance, using building blocks to form different shapes is an activity that will encourage your child to think of creative ways on how they can build the right structure according to your instructions or their own imagination. This in turn develops your child's coordination because he or she will need to place the building blocks in exactly the right spots.
What are Waldorf toys?
Waldorf educational material is based on Rudolf Steiner's philosophy of education. This method of teaching is often more hands-on, focusing on play and development rather than academic concepts. This method can be used for children of all ages, even adults.
Waldorf toys are not as structured as Montessori educational material because they follow the child's interests and encourage free play. Even so, this does not mean that these toys do not help the child develop cognitively or physically. The main difference between the two methods is that Waldorf toys encourage free play while Montessori educational material encourages learning through structured activities.
Waldorf educational materials can be loosely divided into three categories: natural, human and spiritual. Natural materials are substances from the physical world such as wood, water and sand. Human things include images of humans or images that represent humanity, such as tools, toys and books. Spiritual things are images that represent non-physical concepts or entities, such as the sun, stars in the sky and angels.
Some examples of natural Waldorf toys are blocks made of wood, piles of sand in different shapes and water colors with various shades. Human Waldorf educational materials include images of humans including dolls, people in black and white photos, books of nursery rhymes with illustrations, religious images (crosses) and toys that represent specific professions (dolls for housekeeping).
Spiritual Waldorf educational materials include the sun, moon, stars or other planets. They can also be images of angels or helpful animals like dolphins. Many Waldorf educational toys are multi-purpose. For example, a ball can be used as a toy and as an object of study.
Montessori vs Waldorf: The Overview
This section highlights the main differences between Montessori and Waldorf toys. It also provides information about the materials for each method.
History Of The Methods
Maria Montessori was a medical doctor and a teacher who devised a teaching system that makes learning child's play. While on duty in the psychiatric ward of a women's prison, she observed children from rich families play with toys. She was surprised to find out that these kids from wealthy families were not progressing as compared to the inmates' children in the psychiatric ward who played using simple household items or toys made out of cardboard. After this encounter, she decided to go back to school to study psychology and education. Montessori's contribution was not only her teaching system but also her belief that play is an integral part of learning. She believed that children should be given freedom while playing so as to develop their creativity and coordination.
Rudolf Steiner was a philosopher who created the Waldorf education method for early childhood education. This method is based on the idea that the process of learning should be as natural as possible and that children learn best through play and self-discovery. This approach helped form the basis for Waldorf education, which believes that children learn best when playing with educational toys.
Ideas Behind The Methods
Montessori education calls for learning through sensory stimulation. This method encourages discovery and interactivity by providing interesting materials for children to learn on their own. Materials are presented in a way that makes it easy for kids to understand them. For example, Montessori blocks are used to teach children about mathematics through visual images. A child can immediately see how many cubes are needed for a tower or how they can be configured based on the number of columns and rows.
On the other hand, Waldorf educational materials provide toys that teach children by imitating life. The goal is to motivate kids to learn about how things work and become familiar with new ideas. For example, a child will have a toy clock that helps them understand the concept of time while being able to see how it works in real life.
Learning Through Play
Montessori's philosophy is built on the principle that a child will only be willing to learn when they are in a relaxed and comfortable state. To help children develop their learning skills, Montessori materials should be presented in a way that is attractive to them. They must also be used in a proper environment where the child can concentrate without distractions.
On the other hand, Waldorf education teaches students to think for themselves while emphasizing both social and emotional development. In Waldorf schools, children learn how to express themselves through creative activities such as craftwork and music lessons.
The Materials For The Methods
Montessori materials are generally made from durable natural materials in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some examples include puzzles with knobs, wagons, locks and keys, balls of different sizes, beads on wires and clay.
When it comes to materials, Waldorf education is more about educational toys that imitate life. Some examples of these include dolls for role play games, blocks with letters of the alphabet so kids can build words or a chalkboard to learn basic mathematics.
Conclusion
The idea behind both teaching methods is that it should be fun for kids. While Montessori materials may be made from natural materials, they're also attractive to children and come in a variety of shapes and colors. Waldorf educational toys resemble real life objects so as to help children understand how things work. The goal of the two methods is to make learning a pleasant experience for kids.
Although the materials are different, both Montessori and Waldorf education believe that learning should be interactive. They encourage kids to play while developing their creativity and coordination. The two methods also share the same approach to learning. They both believe that by playing, children will be able to discover new things about life and learn information that is not taught in schools.
Before you buy educational toys for your child, it's important to understand what they need. Keep in mind that whether you choose Montessori or Waldorf education, it should be a positive learning experience for your child.
