What is a Montessori mirror?

The mirror has a great importance in decorating the children’s room from the first months of life. It has numerous functions for the baby’s development, but it is necessary to take some care and choose the ideal model.

What is a Montessori mirror?

Children love to see themselves in the mirror. The Montessori wall mirror is a great way to encourage movement and interactive play. It teaches infants about cause and effects as they watch their movements in the mirror and allow a child to explore their body through visual touch and reaction in the mirror. The mirror is typically a permanent fixture in Montessori classes and nurseries. Children love that mirrors are shiny, and the presence of one will keep them entertained for a long time.

Ideally, a Montessori mirror is a convex mirror that is often used in Montessori classrooms as a tool for teaching children about their environment and the concepts of spatial awareness, reflection, and observation. It is typically placed at a child’s eye level and can be used to reflect light and images, as well as to observe one’s own reflection. The mirror is intended to be an engaging and interactive way for children to learn and explore.

What do mirrors teach children?

The Montessori wall mirror is a great way to encourage movement and interactive play. It teaches infants about cause and effects as they watch their movements in the mirror and allow a child to explore their body through visual touch and reaction in the mirror. Mirrors can teach children a variety of skills and concepts, including:

• Self-awareness: Children can learn about their own physical characteristics, such as facial features, body shape, and size. They can also observe their own movements and expressions, which can help them develop a sense of self-awareness and self-esteem.
• Spatial awareness: Children can learn about spatial relationships by observing reflections of themselves and their surroundings in the mirror. They can learn about how objects relate to one another in space, and how their own actions affect the space around them.
• Sensory development: Children can explore the mirror’s reflective surface and learn about light and shadows, as well as how light reflects off of different surfaces. They can learn about the properties of light, such as reflection and refraction, and how they affect the way objects appear in the mirror.
• Fine motor development: Children can learn to use their hands and fingers to manipulate objects in front of the mirror, such as putting on makeup or using a brush. This can help them develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
• Gross motor development: Children can learn to observe and imitate movements in the mirror, such as jumping, skipping, or clapping. This can help them develop gross motor skills and coordination.
• Language development: Children can learn new words to describe what they see in the mirror, such as “reflection,” “shadow,” and “light.” They can also learn to identify emotions and feelings by observing their own facial expressions.
• Imagination and creativity: Children can use mirrors to create different scenarios and stories using their reflection, they can dress up, act and create their own world.
• Self-care: Children can learn to take care of themselves by observing their own reflection and learn how to brush their hair, teeth and take care of their appearance.

Mirrors can be a powerful tool for children to explore, play, and learn in a fun and interactive way, they can support the development of a wide range of skills and concepts.

Where to use the mirror in the Montessori room?

The baby’s room should be divided into day and night functions. That is, the night function is basically the bed, and place of rest. The daytime, is where the baby will play and develop safely.

Considering this division, the Montessori mirror should be used in the daytime part. What does this mean? There is not much sense in placing the mirror in a resting area, parallel to the Montessori bed, the baby’s resting place. The ideal is to put it parallel to a play mat or a mattress, so that it can move freely during the day. The idea is that, at times of play and games, the baby can be free progressively, in a large place where he can move freely in the daytime environment.

What are Montessori mirrors made of?

You can also choose between glass mirrors and acrylic mirrors. Typically, most of them are made of acrylic. Acrylic is a lightweight and shatter-resistant material that is safe for children to use and is also less expensive than traditional glass mirrors. Additionally, acrylic mirrors are less likely to crack or break and are easy to clean and maintain. They come in different sizes and shapes like round, square, and rectangle.

Acrylic mirrors have distortions that glass mirrors do not. This is important as your newborn is just now learning about reality and their image. A distorted image of what the child looks like will not assist him or her to develop a sound identity. Glass is the most recommended, or a high-quality acrylic which reflects reality back to the child.

At what height should we place the mirror for the Montessori room?

The mirror for a Montessori room should be horizontal and adapt to the baby’s stages. The child should have a view of his whole body. This will allow them to study their own reflection and play with their movements. In a few weeks, they will be able to recognise their reflection in the mirror, which will help them to perfect their movements.

• From birth until it starts to sit up, the child must see itself in the mirror from its position on the ground. Ideally, it should be at ground level.
• As soon as he can sit up, we can place a horizontal bar, more or less at shoulder height (if he is standing up). That way, when he sits up, he can start to hold himself up.
• When the baby starts to stand, we should consider whether to raise the height of the mirror a little or leave it as it is. It all depends on the mirror’s measurements. Ideally, the baby should be able to see his whole body.
• When the child is able to walk and begins to grow, we can change the mirror to a vertical position, placing it next to the wardrobe or in another space that seems appropriate for the room’s decoration.

It’s also a good idea to have a support bar so that the child can start to hold on and stand up. The bar should be more or less at the height of the baby’s shoulder if he were standing.

What is the Montessori mirror for?

The mirror has great functions in the baby’s bedroom, which is why it should be placed when the child is still in the first months of life. Among the functions are

• It stimulates the baby’s movement, because this way he will see the environment and will learn to move and see the movements of whoever is with him;
• It also helps the baby to form a concept of itself, realizing that it is an individual being, different from its parents;
• The mirror is a stimulus for the child to raise its head, and thus begin to look at itself in the mirror;
• Encourages the sense of laterality

Our suggestions of Montessori Mirrors at A Matter Of Style