The Little Person in my House

After reading all these fascinating books about Montessori and early child education - one thing that jumped out at me is making things more accessible for the little person in the house!

For example, A is very good a putting away mom and dad's shoes and is happy to help throw things away when need be - both tasks which are entirely reachable by a very small person. So it got me thinking about what I could do that he could actually feel helpful doing, that he could learn to do and that I had not been allowing him to do by keeping elements out of his reach.

First task - Relocate his shoes! A now has his very own shoe shelf with Mom and Dad. he is so excited to get his own shoes. Now we must work on him getting them on. He can sometimes, but not consistently!

Second task: Relocate his bowls, dishes, cups to a low drawer. Before I kept the tupperware down low so he could play with them. But now I put his dishes down low. Now in the morning I ask him to get me a bowl, plate etc. from the drawer and he is so excited to do so!

Third task: Allow him to help prepare food. This week he helped me cut the banana with his very own ikea knife. He watched me do it and then he tried himself. He was hungry so it didn't last too long, but I could tell he felt very accomplished :) I couldn't take a picture of this since I'm not letting him alone with the knife just yet!

He also loves helping put things, like the dirty laundry, "away!"

A few little things made him so happy - and I can see the little wheels spinning in his head! Have you done anything to make it easier for the little people to help around the house?