Montessori mobiles are a practical way to support your newborn’s natural development. It’s so exciting to see our little ones growing and loving the environment we have prepared for them for the exact stage of their development. Imagine watching your newborn as they track the mobile with their eyes for the first time as it floats through the air. Watching your little one become interested in the world around them feels magical. I believe that these mobiles are perfect for supporting your newborn’s natural development from the very first days of their lives. There is a small window of maximum benefit for these mobiles so it is best to prepare to use them as soon as possible.
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About Montessori
To understand Montessori mobiles, you first have to understand a little bit about Montessori. Maria Montessori was a woman and educator before her time. Her gentle approach to child development that allows the child freedom within limits is supported by the research-backed “Authoritative Parenting” approach. Her respect for the innate development of a child is what modern early educators call “Developmentally Appropriate Practices.”
About Early Learning
So here’s the thing: Babies build toddlers, toddlers build kids, and kids build adults. This is why early education is so vital to young children. When I say early education, you may be thinking of a preschool or daycare setting, but YOU are your child’s first teacher and YOUR HOME is your child’s first classroom (and neither needs to resemble a brick-and-mortar teacher or classroom). These foundational years lay the groundwork for future well-being. Providing an environment that supports cognitive, emotional, and physical development nurtures the child’s holistic development and contributes to their overall well-being. What I would encourage you to do, is think about what values are important to you and how you can set up yourself and your home to best support those values when it comes to your child.
Introduction to Montessori Mobiles
One way to support your newborn’s development is with the use of Montessori mobiles. One thing about Montessori is that every tool, work, and presentation is purposeful, and the Montessori mobiles are no exception. They were thoughtfully designed to engage infants and stimulate their senses. Everything from the way the mobiles gently move to the shapes and colors chosen were designed with thoughtfulness to support visual perception, concentration, and physical development.
Montessori Mobiles Definition
The Montessori mobiles weren’t actually created by Maria Montessori. They were created by educators and designers inspired by Montessori’s principles of following a child’s natural development and her observations that babies were drawn to high-contrast colors, geometric shapes, and slow movements. The four Montessori mobiles that can be found in most Montessori classrooms and environments are the munari mobile, the gobbi mobile, the octahedron mobile, and the dancers.
Key Features of Montessori Mobiles
The key principles behind Montessori mobiles are deeply rooted in the Montessori educational philosophy, which emphasizes intention, beauty, and developmentally appropriate practices to support infants’ natural development.
Intention is at the center of Montessori materials. Each material is well thought out from the weight of an item to the color. Only what is necessary is included, anything not fundamental to the function is not. Montessori mobiles are no exception to this. The way the mobiles move, the colors of the mobiles, and the developmental areas they are targeting have been thoroughly thought through.
The Montessori mobiles also seek to support an infant’s natural development. The mobiles satisfy an infant’s natural curiosity to explore the world all around them and target areas of the infant’s developmental focus and abilities. This gives them one of their first “hands-on learning” experience and sets the groundwork for future cognitive and physical development.
Montessori mobiles are also beautiful. Beauty is a key principle as it provides a calming presence and leads to appreciation of the environment. It is not overstimulating and will grab the child’s interest. Factors that contribute to a beautiful mobile is the gracefulness of the movement, balanced proportions, and harmonious and eye-catching color schemes.
By adhering to these principles, educators and designers have created four beautiful Montessori mobiles that work within the guiding principles of the Montessori philosophy.
The types of Montessori mobiles
Munari Mobile
The introductory mobile is the Munari Mobile named after its designer, the Italian artist, Bruno Munari. This mobile is often introduced when an infant is about two weeks old. The purpose of the Munari mobile is to stimulate an infant’s visual senses and concentration. The munari mobile consists of black and white geometric shapes. This is a deliberate design choice as a newborn baby’s eyesight is still developing so they see high contrast and bold shapes more easily thus holding their attention and focus for longer. This mobile glides beautifully through the air, piquing a newborn’s curiosity and supporting their development in tracking objects with their eyes (visual tracking is an important prereading and prewriting skill).
Octahedron Mobile
Named after the octahedral shape that this mobile features, the Octahedron Mobile continues to build on the infant’s visual perception development. It does this by introducing color and the 3-dimensional shapes add another interesting item to watch twirl through the air. This mobile has 3 octahedrons, one of each primary color. The colors provide high contrast to keep the attention of the infant’s developing eyesight but do introduce a new element of color. Furthermore, the addition of using 3-dimensional shapes supports spatial awareness and encourages infants to want to reach out and touch them.
Gobbi Mobile
As your baby grows and develops, they will move from the black and white images of the Munari mobile to the primary colors of the Octahedron mobile to the color graduation of the Gobbi mobile. The Gobbi Mobile was named after Gianna Gobbi, an Italian Montessori educator. The Gobbi Mobile has several spheres of the same color that gradually become lighter. The spheres also hang at distances that gradually become longer. The Gobbi Mobile is used to refine an infant’s visual discrimination and depth perception through the subtle variation of shades and distance.
Dancers Mobile
The Dancer Mobile marks an exciting time in the infant’s development as they become more active and responsive to the world around them. This mobile introduces dynamic movement as each shiny dancer sways with the air current. The movement of the dancers will be sure to capture the infant’s attention and encourage them to reach out to it with their hands supporting the development of their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination (another prewriting skill).
Benefits of Montessori Mobiles
The benefits of Montessori mobile are many. Through visual stimulation and exploration, the mobiles engage the infant’s developing mind and encouraging cognitive growth as they make connections to the world around them.
Visual Development: One of the biggest benefits of Montessori mobiles is their support of visual stimulation. They aid development in tracking, visual discrimination, and visual-spatial relations.
Physical Development: By providing infants with opportunities for hands-on exploration and manipulation, Montessori mobiles support the development of essential motor skills from the earliest stages of life. Fine motor skills are essential for later tasks such as writing, drawing, and self-care activities.
Sensorial Experiences: Montessori mobiles provide infants with a rich multisensory experience, stimulating not only their visual senses but also their auditory and tactile senses. This multisensory input enriches infants’ sensory experiences and encourages active exploration of their environment, fostering holistic sensory development.
Focus: Finally, the mobiles foster concentration and focus by featuring colors, shapes, and movements that draw the infant’s attention.
When and Where to Use the Montessori Mobile
Montessori Mobiles are often introduced at 2 to 6 weeks when their visual system is still developing, and they are just starting to focus on objects. When infants are showing increased alertness and interest in their surroundings is a good time to start with Montessori mobiles to get maximum benefits. Signs that it may be time to transition between mobiles include decreased interest or attention, increased mobility or reaching abilities, or the attainment of new developmental milestones. Below is a rough timeline of the Montessori Mobiles:
Munari Mobiles: Introduce at 2-6 weeks; When you observe increased alertness
Octahedron Mobiles: Introduce at 6-10 weeks; When you observe increased visual perception, growing interest in the world around them, and loss of interest in the Munari Mobile
Gobbi Mobiles: Introduce at 8-12 weeks; When you observe increased visual perception, an increased interest in the world around them, and a loss of interest in the Octahedron Mobile
Dancers Mobile: Introduce at 10-14 weeks; When you observe increased motor ability, improved hand-eye coordination, an interest in reaching and grasping objects, and a loss of interest in the Gobbi Mobile
Hang the mobiles about 12 inches away from the infant and right above their belly buttons. The best place to hang these mobiles is from the ceiling using a command hook or from a mobile holder or tall baby gym. These are best to be placed above a mat used to allow the baby to free movement. It is not recommended to place them above their sleeping place as it may cause a safety hazard as well as cause them to “play” instead of sleep. Finally, it is recommended to place it in an area that provides airflow that can cause the mobiles to move gracefully with the airflow.
Where to Get Montessori Mobiles
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A few of the best places to purchase Montessori Mobiles are Essential Montessori on Etsy and Amazon. If you are able to find a second-hand Monti Kids Mobile Kit (as they are no longer in business), that is a great option. With some time and effort, there are DIY tutorials online for many of the mobiles. Find the Munari DIY tutorial here. Make sure to check for safety and always supervise when using DIY materials.
Conclusion
As caregivers, it is essential to recognize the importance of purposeful engagement in nurturing infants’ development from the earliest days of life. Montessori mobiles provide valuable opportunities for infants. If you are interested in more intentional play for newborns and support their natural development, check out these posts: Black and White Baby Books, Black and White Baby Toys, and Black and White Baby Pictures
