These baby toys are adorable! They are wooden (read: NATURAL), lovely to touch and the perfect size for little hands. One of them has bells, which makes it an excellent cause-and-effect toy. Think, ‘when I shake this, it makes a sound.’ It also helps with another important developmental milestone for babies, which is bringing their hands together to the center of their body. The egg & cup and peg & cup achieves this in such a simple way.

This is a wonderful set of visual, auditory and kinesthetic toy. You can give these to babies as young as 2-month-old, but a 10-month-old would love them just as much.   

Thanks to Bella Casa, they can be your baby’s new favorite toy when you enter this giveaway! Enter a comment below for your chance to win! Winner will be announced on March 7.

This giveaway has expired. But you can get 25% discount through this link. Enter “MONTESSORI25” at check out!

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Marie-Claire made something I wish I had known about two years ago. These awesome card decks are beautifully-designed (which appeals to the Montessorian in me) and non-toxic. The fact that they have educational information, like numbers, letters and shapes is just the cherry on top! If you have a young toddler, they will love this. Guaranteed. And if you have older children, the So Awesome website has ideas on other things you can do. For example, I love the matching game below (see picture). 

For us, the wallet was a particularly HUGE HIT. Every time we go to the grocery store, Mackenzie always remembers to bring her wallet. The first time she brought it with her, while I was checking out, she had taken out her card as she sat in the cart, waiting and ready to swipe! That’s how much children want to do what adults do. 

Lucky for us, Marie-Claire is doing a giveway for Montessori On the Double readers! Leave a comment below or send me an email stephanie@montessorionthedouble.com and if you are the lucky winner, she will send you an alphabet deck and the much-coveted wallet! Check out the rest of her website here! Winner will be announced on Feb 14th.

• This is the biggest news of all! AMI Montessori has launched a new online resource tool to help Montessori teachers. It is extraordinarily well-done  http://montessoriguide.org

• Here are two excellent articles, written by the same person. One on the the difference between a Mom and a Guide in the school and the other on how to choose your words carefully with children  http://mariamontessori.com/mm/?p=2430 and http://mariamontessori.com/mm/?p=2415

• My grandmother used to say to my sister, “What?! Why are you sending my grandchildren to school to do housework?” I enjoyed this article about how (not) to talk to family about Montessori  http://www.howwemontessori.com/how-we-montessori/2013/12/talking-to-family-about-montessori.html

• What to do when your child doesn’t listen to ‘no’ or throws tantrums  http://www.greenchildmagazine.com/natural-discipline-for-the-early-years/

• This isn’t new, but I can’t seem to watch this enough times this week. With Sir Ken Robinson  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY

• Love this article. Montessori teachers always have gems to share  http://thefullmontessori.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/tips-from-the-toddler-whisperer/

• Some interesting exercises to enhance brain development  http://www.dailymontessori.com/self-development/children-brain-development/