Montessori Games and Puzzles at 23 Months Old

Things in our environment seem to be changing as our twin boys are ready for more of a challenge with their work. I’m am going to share with you some Montessori-friendly games and puzzles that have made their way into our Montessori home with 23-month-old twin toddlers.

A Great First Board Game for Toddlers

On one of my routine thrift shopping outings, I was looking through the toys and games section. Usually, I don’t expect to find much, but this time I hit the jackpot! I found the perfect first board game for toddlers, the Goodnight Moon Game.

This game has a fold-out board of the classic and nostalgic great green room. It has little game boards with six images on them. There are separate little game tiles to place on the game board. Unfortunately, this game isn’t being made anymore, but you can find used versions on eBay.

Making a Game Montessori

Most games and activities have more pieces than a young toddler knows how to manage. The same was true for this game, so I decided to make it a bit more Montessori-friendly!

I collected all of the matching game tiles for each game board and clipped them together. That way, instead of dumping out the whole box of pieces, each of my sons could grab one game board and tile set. This makes it manageable and very double for their stage of development. I store our games in the game boxes in a lower cabinet in our living room.

First Orchard Board Game

We don’t often think of toddlers and board games. However, this First Orchard board game is the perfect first board game for your toddler! It is a high-quality and beautiful game. It is a collaborative game where you and your child or other family members work together to get all the fruit into the basket before the crow gets to the orchard!

The Perfect Toddler Puzzles

Puzzles have been such a great part of our home environment. Up until this point, the boys have been using knobbed puzzles or chunky block puzzles. Just this month there has been a shift in the interest and their frustration tolerance to be able to work with more challenging puzzles.

Chunky Jigsaw Puzzle

In the Companion Play Kit from LovEvery, our twins were introduced to their first jigsaw puzzle. The Chunky Jigsaw Puzzle is the perfect next level of challenge when it comes to puzzles. It is the perfect bridge into your traditional jigsaw puzzle, becuase the Chunky Jigsaw Puzzle is double-sided, making it easy to learn how to turn and flip puzzle pieces to get them into a place they fit.

Twist and Turn Puzzle

This twist-and-sort puzzle is such a neat puzzle for toddlers. It is both a jigsaw puzzle with the bases connecting together while also being a 4-in-1 puzzle. I like that you can separate each peg and allow a child to work with a section of the puzzle one at a time and build up to using all of the sections together as they become more proficient.

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Match It 2-Piece Puzzles

These 2-piece Match It puzzles have been just enough of a challenge while still being solvable for our 23-month-old toddlers. The puzzles naturally self-correct, making them a perfect Montessori activity for toddlers. This allows them to explore and self-correct without me telling them those pieces don’t go together.

Nesting Shape Puzzles

These nesting-shaped puzzles are another puzzle variation that is perfect to introduce at this age. The puzzle is self-correcting becuase of the frame that the pieces fit into. It also comes with a variety of shapes that make it great for toy rotations.

Creative Play with Play Silks

As the boys get older, they have been enjoying their play silks from Sarah’s Silks so much! These play silks can be used in so many different ways and are a fun creative addition to our home environment. I can see how these will become such an important part of their creative play in the months and years to come. They will be able to make forts, dress up as whatever their little minds can imagine, and make their play adventures so fun with these beautiful play silks.