I have mentioned this a few times now but Gus is really starting to move around now! He rolls to his belly, he wiggles his way around on his back, and has been spotted rotating his body an entire 360 degrees. I have always found these first attempts at movement to be completely adorable. He's not quite where I put him anymore, but not really going far. I think it's fair to say that his squishy newborn days are over.
As a result, we've made some changes to our movement area with a roller. In order to make sure we have a space that meets his needs, updating this space will be a must. However, we don't want to change anything too drastically to upset his newly forming sense of order and familiarity.
Changes to the Montessori Movement Area with a Rolling Baby
So far, the changes to the movement area have been slight. The biggest change has been removing the mat that Augustus used as a newborn. He probably still could have used this for a bit, but I don't want it to prohibit his movement at all. With Nora, we kept the mat for far too long and it made it really difficult for her to sit up on her own and I wanted to avoid that this time. Instead we placed a cozy handmade blanket down for him. It still defines "his" space in the playroom and the surface is still pleasing to touch but firm.
"Movement is one of the most important aspects of development in the first years of life. [It] is an essential characteristic of life and serves all living beings as an indispensable tool." Silvana Quattrochcchi Montanaro, Understanding the Human Being
Next, I changed the shelf height for him. This is so slight a change probably no one notices but me. But, I gave that bottom shelf a lot of space so that a few of his materials could be stored there without issue. This way, when he eventually makes his way to the shelf (he hasn't yet) he can independently find a toy.
Finally, we changed the way we hung the mobiles. With Nora, we didn't use too many tactile mobiles, but this time we are. It's something Gus very much enjoys. Hanging the mobiles for a plant hanger just wasn't working for this purpose. They were too close to the wall and kept banging into the mirror. So, a simple hook in the ceiling moved further away from the wall has done the trick!
I think this movement area set up will serve Gus until he starts crawling and pulling up on things. At that point, more changes will need to be made to keep up with his growing sense of freedom.
Have you made any changes to your movement area to accommodate more movement?
This post was week 19 of my Montessori Baby series with Augustus.
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