I thought you bought this kitchen ready, but you truly remodeled it. Looks so gorgeous! Welcome to our house for kitchen remodeling. 😉 Very beautiful and inviting child size kitchen. Looking forward to trying dinner made by Stella. 🥰
Stella is really good at making sliced banana. She can make it for your dinner anytime 😅 Unfortunately there are still not any real kitchens like this that we could find for toddlers. And since our kitchen remodel would be too pricy, we made mini remodeling 😃
Ohhhh we really wanted to do something like this I’ve been seeing it everywhere too! I’m just to lazy 😂 but maybe this should motivate me to do it Zander loves playing at the sink
It definitely wasn't simple lol 😆 but it looks so much better than our real kitchen, that it was worth it. And of course, she gets to be little miss independent!
Everything we used for the kitchen is linked in the description! Also coming back to note painting the sink was a fail 😫 We may have needed to use a different type of paint, but with just regular paint it ended up peeling off like a sticker. We have since removed it and I didn't try to repaint it again. If you know of a workaround, would love to hear it!
Hey Maria, lovely video! 😍 My little one is turning one soon and for these last 12 months I’ve been completely wracking my brain for how I can prepare the kitchen environment for more independence. My issue is we have absolutely no room for a weaning table or separate low sink. Condo living 😆 We have been able to give her access to a low cabinet with her dishes, napkins, ect and low food drawers in the fridge. The best I’ve been able to come up with besides that is to have her climb up to stuff 😅 Climb up her keekaroo chair to sit at the table. Toddler tower to get to the counter tops. You mentioned not liking this. Now I’m concerned! 😓 I’d really appreciate more of your thoughts on this. TIA 🤍
Hi Courtney! Happy almost birthday to your girl! Yes, ideally, anything we can do to bring the environment down to the child's level will really be more in line with Montessori's view of the prepared environment and respecting the child. I put what my plan was for our apartment below, but really, if none of that works for your space or would cause too much stress for you to even implement consistently, having that access to the low cabinet and the low food shelves + any access to food prep opportunities on a kitchen helper will be better than not including her at all! Maybe you could do a mixed approach, where daily food prep is done with the helper, but you implement some of these things for a couple of meal prep sessions throughout the month so she can really feel in control! So at the end of the day, if nothing below is realistic for your space, don't stress it! We had a small alley kitchen and breakfast nook in our 1bdr apartment. My plan was to use a folding lap desk as her makeshift weaning table/food prep area that I could set up next to me while I cook, and then put away once we are done. We do food prep on her weaning table or her kitchen now-I just bring down whatever she can help me with and we either work on that surface together, or if she wants, she does it independently there while I work on the counter. Sometimes she relocates to the floor if it's easier for her-washing veggies is a big one for her. I start her on the table, and she asks to put the water bowl on the floor because it's easier for her to reach into it. I just lay down a towel, and put 3 bowls down (1 with the veggies to wash, 1 with water, 1 for the cleaned veggies) and she goes through the stations on her own. I let her do that while I'm chopping because I can't really move around while she's on the floor 😅 Dishwashing or hand washing without a little sink looks the same in a Montessori class actually! A basin of soapy water for the plates, clean water to rinse, and then an empty one for the clean plates. For hand washing, it may be a similar set up, or 1 basin that is emptied and refilled to rinse the hands off. I've also seen large Mason jar dispensers/lemonade(?) dispensers used in lieu of a faucet and a tub under it as the "sink" that gets dumped out. That likely would've been on a small fold away table or shelf in our breakfast nook in the apartment. Realistically, in a small space, it would take a lot of time to set this up, and rotate it based on the part of food prep you're in, and still get any kind of cooking done-I know. Maybe you have one of these stations available at her height, and the rest is on the kitchen helper. Or during the week she helps in the kitchen helper, but on the weekend, or once a month, you have a special cooking project that's just for her to fully be immerse in at her level and not for the end result-then everything gets brought down to her level just for that day and she can really have better autonomy and control of the situation. For the weaning table specifically, if there's any spot at all where you could set something up for her to have even snacktime, which is not quite as messy as regular meals, it would be great. I found Stella really started fighting the high chair around 12 months and wanting that freedom to sit and stand throughout the meal. On the weekends when we eat all meals together and she's in the high chair, she's a lot more restless than during the week. So even something like that same foldable lap desk/table or any other small table that's set up even in another room (I was going to go for the windows in our apartment living room and double it as the art space, with a floor protector under the table). My kitchen growing up, from my memory, was the size of a nice walk in closet 🤣 I spent most of the time on a stool to be at counter height, but I also remember doing some basic things like peeling and sorting on the floor! Any sort of compromise you could make to let her experience these activities at her height would be great. But again, if none of that works for your space, getting her involved on the helper is still going to be better than not! Hope that makes sense! 🥰
@@MariaandMontessori Thank you so much for taking the time to write a response like this! You’ve given my plenty to think about. It’s amazing what brainstorming with someone else can do! 🤗
So sorry those weren't added before! I put everything with links in the description box that I could think of. Please let me know if there is anything else you were looking for!
Hi! We didn't seal the paint with anything- not something we thought of, to be honest, because I didn't see it mentioned anywhere else. The sink paint, like I have in the pinned post, was definitely a mistake-that came off after a month. But everything else is still looking perfect! We just take care of it and show Stella how to do so. After she uses the water, we make sure to wipe up any spills. The contact paper seems to have been sufficient to keep the countertops protected.
Where did you get the mini fridge? I’ve been looking on Amazon but I’m not sure which to get. I want to make sure my son, who is 14 months, can easily open it himself!! Thank you! And I love your channel!!
Aw thank you! I added a link to the fridge in the description box under "Snack Area"! I've been waiting until we had it for a bit longer (it's only been 3 months so far) to make sure it keeps working-but so far, no complaints! It opens pretty easily and the handle is quite easy for Stella to grab as well!
I'm just finding your channel and I love it! How old is your little one? I really like how you changed the paint color and the handles! We've been considering remodeling our functional kitchen and adding the top piece (we left it off due to our small space). Wonderful videos! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you! I'll be heading over to your channel! Love seeing other Montessori mamas!!! Stella is 13 months. The top piece isn't used for much except storage right now but it definitely helps contain some of the splashing by adding that back paneling 😅
@@MariaandMontessori aww that's so nice of you! I love seeing other Montessori mom's too! I really love your videos it's inspiring me to do more with her Montessori work. I have focused on practical life for so long I would love to get back into shelf work. The kitchen is beautiful I might be adding some of these things to it soon. How do you like the automatic sink? We have a water dispenser. Oh that's a great idea to add the back panel for splashing!
We love the automatic sink! She is really into pressing buttons and is really enjoying trying to reach over and try to press it. It's not a hassle to refill or anything either-lasts me a full day. We used an L bracket in the back to attach the "faucet" to the kitchen so she can't accidently yank it off, and we use a portable battery pack to charge it in the back. The battery lasts us well over a week too!
@@MariaandMontessorithat is so creative! I think we might benefit from switching to an automatic dispenser, my daughter loves pressing buttons too! I would love to have it drain as she is now strong enough to remove the sink and dump the water 😂 thank you so much for sharing!
@@MariaandMontessori yes please ☺️ it’s the janod macaron play kitchen th-cam.com/video/EX2MXKri6AE/w-d-xo.html quite small but I was able to source two flat 1 gallon containers and a bigger silver bowl for the sink. And I am using the same faucet/pump you have shown and covered the table top with protective contact paper.
She's got a whole set of pretend play foods, small pots and pans, utensils, etc to play with too! She takes off the cutting board so she can use the play stove and goes to town making dinner alongside me a lot of times 🥰
@@MariaandMontessori I just ordered my son a play kitchen that I plan to turn functional, but also wanted play foods for him to play with when we aren’t eating. 😃
That sounds great!! We have loved using it for both 🥰 I think I have the pretend food and pots sets listed in my description box if you're looking for those too. It's a really fun addition into the home, I'm excited for you both!
Great video! Maria I love this top on you 😍
Thank you! I got the top from YesStyle of all places, because I was missing Korean fashion so much! 😅
I thought you bought this kitchen ready, but you truly remodeled it. Looks so gorgeous! Welcome to our house for kitchen remodeling. 😉
Very beautiful and inviting child size kitchen. Looking forward to trying dinner made by Stella. 🥰
Stella is really good at making sliced banana. She can make it for your dinner anytime 😅 Unfortunately there are still not any real kitchens like this that we could find for toddlers. And since our kitchen remodel would be too pricy, we made mini remodeling 😃
Ohhhh we really wanted to do something like this I’ve been seeing it everywhere too! I’m just to lazy 😂 but maybe this should motivate me to do it Zander loves playing at the sink
It definitely wasn't simple lol 😆 but it looks so much better than our real kitchen, that it was worth it. And of course, she gets to be little miss independent!
GREAT UPLOAD
Thank you!
Everything we used for the kitchen is linked in the description! Also coming back to note painting the sink was a fail 😫 We may have needed to use a different type of paint, but with just regular paint it ended up peeling off like a sticker. We have since removed it and I didn't try to repaint it again. If you know of a workaround, would love to hear it!
polyacrylic coating should probably be a sufficient sealant
Hey Maria, lovely video! 😍 My little one is turning one soon and for these last 12 months I’ve been completely wracking my brain for how I can prepare the kitchen environment for more independence. My issue is we have absolutely no room for a weaning table or separate low sink. Condo living 😆 We have been able to give her access to a low cabinet with her dishes, napkins, ect and low food drawers in the fridge. The best I’ve been able to come up with besides that is to have her climb up to stuff 😅 Climb up her keekaroo chair to sit at the table. Toddler tower to get to the counter tops. You mentioned not liking this. Now I’m concerned! 😓 I’d really appreciate more of your thoughts on this. TIA 🤍
Hi Courtney! Happy almost birthday to your girl! Yes, ideally, anything we can do to bring the environment down to the child's level will really be more in line with Montessori's view of the prepared environment and respecting the child. I put what my plan was for our apartment below, but really, if none of that works for your space or would cause too much stress for you to even implement consistently, having that access to the low cabinet and the low food shelves + any access to food prep opportunities on a kitchen helper will be better than not including her at all! Maybe you could do a mixed approach, where daily food prep is done with the helper, but you implement some of these things for a couple of meal prep sessions throughout the month so she can really feel in control! So at the end of the day, if nothing below is realistic for your space, don't stress it!
We had a small alley kitchen and breakfast nook in our 1bdr apartment. My plan was to use a folding lap desk as her makeshift weaning table/food prep area that I could set up next to me while I cook, and then put away once we are done. We do food prep on her weaning table or her kitchen now-I just bring down whatever she can help me with and we either work on that surface together, or if she wants, she does it independently there while I work on the counter. Sometimes she relocates to the floor if it's easier for her-washing veggies is a big one for her. I start her on the table, and she asks to put the water bowl on the floor because it's easier for her to reach into it. I just lay down a towel, and put 3 bowls down (1 with the veggies to wash, 1 with water, 1 for the cleaned veggies) and she goes through the stations on her own. I let her do that while I'm chopping because I can't really move around while she's on the floor 😅
Dishwashing or hand washing without a little sink looks the same in a Montessori class actually! A basin of soapy water for the plates, clean water to rinse, and then an empty one for the clean plates. For hand washing, it may be a similar set up, or 1 basin that is emptied and refilled to rinse the hands off. I've also seen large Mason jar dispensers/lemonade(?) dispensers used in lieu of a faucet and a tub under it as the "sink" that gets dumped out. That likely would've been on a small fold away table or shelf in our breakfast nook in the apartment.
Realistically, in a small space, it would take a lot of time to set this up, and rotate it based on the part of food prep you're in, and still get any kind of cooking done-I know.
Maybe you have one of these stations available at her height, and the rest is on the kitchen helper. Or during the week she helps in the kitchen helper, but on the weekend, or once a month, you have a special cooking project that's just for her to fully be immerse in at her level and not for the end result-then everything gets brought down to her level just for that day and she can really have better autonomy and control of the situation.
For the weaning table specifically, if there's any spot at all where you could set something up for her to have even snacktime, which is not quite as messy as regular meals, it would be great. I found Stella really started fighting the high chair around 12 months and wanting that freedom to sit and stand throughout the meal. On the weekends when we eat all meals together and she's in the high chair, she's a lot more restless than during the week. So even something like that same foldable lap desk/table or any other small table that's set up even in another room (I was going to go for the windows in our apartment living room and double it as the art space, with a floor protector under the table).
My kitchen growing up, from my memory, was the size of a nice walk in closet 🤣 I spent most of the time on a stool to be at counter height, but I also remember doing some basic things like peeling and sorting on the floor! Any sort of compromise you could make to let her experience these activities at her height would be great. But again, if none of that works for your space, getting her involved on the helper is still going to be better than not! Hope that makes sense! 🥰
@@MariaandMontessori Thank you so much for taking the time to write a response like this! You’ve given my plenty to think about. It’s amazing what brainstorming with someone else can do! 🤗
Do you have a list of the products you use and where to get them?
So sorry those weren't added before! I put everything with links in the description box that I could think of. Please let me know if there is anything else you were looking for!
Hi what did u seal the paint with? Anything specific for a high water area? How is it holding up
Hi! We didn't seal the paint with anything- not something we thought of, to be honest, because I didn't see it mentioned anywhere else. The sink paint, like I have in the pinned post, was definitely a mistake-that came off after a month. But everything else is still looking perfect! We just take care of it and show Stella how to do so. After she uses the water, we make sure to wipe up any spills. The contact paper seems to have been sufficient to keep the countertops protected.
Where did you get the mini fridge? I’ve been looking on Amazon but I’m not sure which to get. I want to make sure my son, who is 14 months, can easily open it himself!! Thank you! And I love your channel!!
Aw thank you! I added a link to the fridge in the description box under "Snack Area"! I've been waiting until we had it for a bit longer (it's only been 3 months so far) to make sure it keeps working-but so far, no complaints! It opens pretty easily and the handle is quite easy for Stella to grab as well!
I'm just finding your channel and I love it! How old is your little one? I really like how you changed the paint color and the handles! We've been considering remodeling our functional kitchen and adding the top piece (we left it off due to our small space). Wonderful videos! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you! I'll be heading over to your channel! Love seeing other Montessori mamas!!! Stella is 13 months. The top piece isn't used for much except storage right now but it definitely helps contain some of the splashing by adding that back paneling 😅
@@MariaandMontessori aww that's so nice of you! I love seeing other Montessori mom's too! I really love your videos it's inspiring me to do more with her Montessori work. I have focused on practical life for so long I would love to get back into shelf work. The kitchen is beautiful I might be adding some of these things to it soon. How do you like the automatic sink? We have a water dispenser. Oh that's a great idea to add the back panel for splashing!
We love the automatic sink! She is really into pressing buttons and is really enjoying trying to reach over and try to press it. It's not a hassle to refill or anything either-lasts me a full day. We used an L bracket in the back to attach the "faucet" to the kitchen so she can't accidently yank it off, and we use a portable battery pack to charge it in the back. The battery lasts us well over a week too!
@@MariaandMontessorithat is so creative! I think we might benefit from switching to an automatic dispenser, my daughter loves pressing buttons too! I would love to have it drain as she is now strong enough to remove the sink and dump the water 😂 thank you so much for sharing!
Where I live I was unable to source this ikea kitchen but we have available the janod kitchen and I hacked that one
I'm glad you were able to find one that you could still make functional!
@@MariaandMontessori yes please ☺️ it’s the janod macaron play kitchen th-cam.com/video/EX2MXKri6AE/w-d-xo.html quite small but I was able to source two flat 1 gallon containers and a bigger silver bowl for the sink. And I am using the same faucet/pump you have shown and covered the table top with protective contact paper.
Do you only give her real foods or does she have fake foods to play with?
She's got a whole set of pretend play foods, small pots and pans, utensils, etc to play with too! She takes off the cutting board so she can use the play stove and goes to town making dinner alongside me a lot of times 🥰
@@MariaandMontessori I just ordered my son a play kitchen that I plan to turn functional, but also wanted play foods for him to play with when we aren’t eating. 😃
That sounds great!! We have loved using it for both 🥰 I think I have the pretend food and pots sets listed in my description box if you're looking for those too. It's a really fun addition into the home, I'm excited for you both!