Montessori.Shop explains: How to choose children's furniture? 

As soon as the child begins to sit, stand up, and walk, the question arises, "How do I choose furniture for the child's room?" A child needs a table and chair for eating and playing, a sink stand and surfaces in the kitchen, and a comfortable place to change clothes.

Where to start when choosing children's furniture

When buying something for another person, we do not buy it just because we like it. The baby has its own perception of the object, its own ways of interacting with him in different periods of early childhood, which are different from how we use the furniture.

In order not to be disappointed in your own choice, it is necessary before buying to look at the thing from two sides (perspectives) - yours and the child's.

To look from a child's perspective is to try to perceive the furniture as the baby does in the current and each subsequent stage of early childhood:

• For the toddler, the shelving unit is an eye-catching blurred reference point that helps him or her adjust to life, gain a sense of security, a stable environment, and discover an understanding of home order.
• For an infant who is not yet crawling, but is already turning over, the shelf is seen as a two-dimensional picture depending on the position of the body.
• As it gets older, the familiar interior object encourages the baby to expand contact: the baby touches it, uses it as a support for pulling up and moving around, tastes it, looks at it from different angles.
• At the age of confident walking, there is an innate need to observe the perceived order accepted in the family. The toddler is interested in practicing taking care of a piece of furniture: this is how he learns about the world around him, learns to handle things with care, and expands his knowledge of boundaries and freedom.

To look at it from a parental perspective is to understand the impact of furniture on the emerging personality: what the child will gain from interacting with it. This includes our awareness of what kind of product to buy, how to integrate it harmoniously into the family life in order to satisfy children's interests, while preserving the well-being of family life.

Chairs and tables

Furniture stores often do not have furniture suitable for ages 1+. If the furniture is wooden, you can easily remedy this deficiency by trimming it to the desired height. The height of the chair for the child should be such that the baby's feet touch the floor and not hang in the air. Accordingly, the chair should be trimmed as well as the legs of the table. This greatly affects the development of the skeleton and the formation of posture. Here are the approximate sizes of children's tables and chairs.

How to choose a chair for a child:

• for an 80-92 cm tall child - 20-22 cm height
• for a 93-104 cm tall child - 24-26 cm height;
• for a 105-114 cm tall child - 26-28 cm height;
• For a 115-124 cm tall child - 30-32 cm height.

How to choose a table for a child:

• for a child 80-92 cm tall - height 40-42 cm;
• for a child 93-104 cm tall - height 45-47 cm;
• for a child 105-114 cm tall - height 50-52 cm;
• for a child 115-124 cm tall - height 54-56 cm.

The toddler also needs a changing chair in the hallway or in the room. The peculiarity of such a chair is that it should be slightly lower than the chair on which the baby sits at the table. If you, for example, use a chair with a height of 20 cm, the changing chair will be 18-19 cm. And those 2 cm play a big role.

Standing Support (Towers)

Now let's look at standing support in the kitchen. Children under the age of 2.5-3 are not able to remember that they are standing at a height. They often play around and can stumble. Therefore, the ideal option - stands with skirting or railing on the sides and with a limiter at the back. An important point - the presence of steps. For example, IKEA has a high bath stand, it has a non-slip coating on the bottom and top, but it has no steps. Such a stand is not suitable.

The ideal option is to order a helper tower, the steps of which can be changed in height as the child grows.

Shelves for storing toys in the child's room

When choosing shelves for the child, it is important to put the material used at a level no higher than the baby's eyes. If the baby has to reach up with his hands for a toy, he does not see the whole "picture". For example, if it is a tray, it may have materials on it that will just fall off if you tilt it. So it's a good idea to have shelves for the child's height, or if you already have tall shelves, use only the space that is at the child's level.

Color is the background for everything that will be inside the shelf. Therefore, you need to choose such a shade of shelving, so that its filling stands out clearly in the volume and boundaries, attracted at first glance, enticed.

Dark color draws attention to themselves, competing with the toys - they are "lost. Black depresses, is perceived as something without opportunity. The best solution for the nursery is furniture made of natural solid light wood (birch, maple, ash). Focus on the direction of warm, white tones.

Sizes: The length of the rack for a baby from birth to three years is 80-110 cm. The width is 30 cm. The low rack 40 cm in height is needed when the pulling-up period begins, so that the baby can stand by holding on to it, and then walk along the support, leaning on the body. A higher rack, from 56 cm, is appropriate for two to three years and older.

There are no digital accents for the hinged shelves. The guideline is for the toddler to be comfortable practicing independence (picking up, putting up, taking care of) and not have to make more effort than might be the case with other sizes.

If the shelves are very deep, items will be pushed back against the wall while gripping. In this case, the baby will have to exert more effort to get the toy, look for devices with which to do it. These are unsafe conditions for independence. In addition, unsuccessful attempts to interact with the environment form a baby's lack of confidence in themselves and in their actions. An example of unsuitable furniture for the children's room is shelves in the form of a cube.

Choose shelves with rounded corners. They make it easier for the human eye to follow lines that follow the natural movements of the eye and head.

Why shelves are better than toy boxes

Storing them on a shelf or rack allows children to see all their toys - they can easily pick them up and play with them. When toys are in a box, the child doesn't really engage with them, their play is more like pulling out and throwing around the contents of the box.

Here are a few more reasons not to put toys in boxes:

• Taking care of things: Racks make it easier for a child to take care of their toys. Immediately notice if any of the material is lost or a toy needs repair. In addition, toys are less likely to break this way: if we take care of something we treat it with care.
• Order: Toys are easy to put on the shelf immediately after playing, rather than leaving them lying on the floor until the evening cleanup.
• Accessibility: The child sees all his toys and can easily take any of them.
• Variety. The shelves are easy to change toys and it's easy to see what toys your child has.
• Minimalism: A child can get by with a small number of toys.
• It's comforting - the shelves create a less chaotic environment.
• It's beautiful!!! Toys are beautiful in their own right, why not use them to decorate the interior.

In addition to children's furniture, there are adult items in the house that we can't adapt for a child. For example, we cannot make separate small doors for children. But at a certain point, children begin to show insistence on wanting to do everything themselves.

Children find it difficult to close the door if they have to pull it toward them while stepping back - so the door hits or pinches their feet. The solution is very simple. Tie a ribbon to the handle. The child will be able to pull on the ribbon, closing the door at a greater distance from it. This method will give the baby space and time to feel his body and step back. In the same way you can help the child in opening the closet.

The described approach will help you make an educated decision and choose the right piece of furniture for your baby. We hope that these few tips on choosing children's furniture will help you to create a truly educational environment for your baby and keep him healthy.