Choose a pant from the top basket. Sit down and put it on. Then stand up and pull it up by wriggling just so and just so. Decide you don’t want to wear underpants today and take it off.
Choose shorts from the middle basket. Repeat process with even more standing, bending, sitting and wriggling. You got it on! Who cares that it’s on backwards and that the band is kinda tucked in?
Time to choose a shirt. Hmmm… Red or grey? dinosaur or stripes? Make a choice and then change your mind. It’s you who has to wear it after all.
Take the shirt off the hanger
Put the hanger back on the rack
Decide you would like to put your shirt on in front of the mirror and race to the mirror. 
Pull it this way and that way until you get it over your head
Check to make sure it is indeed over your head
Put your first hand through the neck hole several times and then eventually through the armhole. 
Ask mummy for help but stop her as soon as your hands find the hole. Pull down making sure to check your reflection the whole time.
When done, mummy doesn’t have to praise you or say anything. You do a random celebratory dance. Dressing up is hardwork and you know it!
Zoom out of the room! To?
Brush your hair off course!
Now you’re ready…
And it’s off to face the day!!!
This is our toddler’s dressing area. You might recognize it from his infant room. The wardrobe used to be his changing table. We knew it would eventually become his toddler wardrobe.
It works very well for him. It is simple and orderly. There is a place for everything and the options are limited. His clothes are in the closet on the right. I put out two options every day or two.
There is space in front to offer the choice of sitting on the chair or on the floor to put on pants or shoes.
The one thing I need to add to this area is a toddler length mirror. As you can see he uses his mirror from when he was an infant but it is not ideal.
Apart from the space, the other things that encourage his independence in dressing up is giving him enough time and not offering unnecessary help. It can be hard to watch the child struggle but know that they will ask for help when they need it and as Maria Montessori said,
Live a Good Life!
0 Comments
Sade · September 28, 2015 at 10:15 pm
Wow. That’s impressive. Like seriously. So do you help him when he asks of it?
nduoma · September 29, 2015 at 3:05 am
Thank you Sade. Yes I do but only with what he needs help with. In this case, he was struggling to find the second armhole so I held it out until his arm found it and let him do the rest. I also try to help him in a way that indicates to him how to solve the same problem if he encounters it in future.
Sade · September 29, 2015 at 3:20 am
Nduoma, thanks for explaining. I understand better how do that instead of helping my son all the way with something he’s stuck with.
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