A morning at Mini Montessori

It’s funny how something absolutely wonderful can be sitting on your doorstep and you know nothing about it.

That was the case for Mini Montessori – a stay-and-play group located in Belvedere.

For those who don’t know what it is, Montessori is a teaching approach that gives young children the freedom to learn at their own pace in a highly stimulating environment. This is based on the understanding that youngsters under the age of six have the greatest capacity – and desire – to learn.

Hubby is a big fan of the Montessori method – and since he studied to be a teacher, I trust his assessment of it. Until Thursday night, however, we had no idea that this group was so near to us.

I first heard about it on a local Facebook group and after a bit of Googling, I decided to give it a try. The wet weather had put a damper on our other Friday morning plans, so this was a good replacement.

We arrived at the venue early after successfully navigating our morning routine, a light drizzle and a bit of public transport. Pumpkin downed most of a bottle while we waited outside. A lovely Polish woman and her granddaughter were the only ones in front of us and I was so busy feeding the baby that I didn’t notice the huge queue of mums and children that had built up behind us.

When the doors opened, we shuffled inside. The manager gave us a friendly greeting and a quick explanation as we signed in and paid. It turned out that children under two got a discount, and I paid an extra 80p for a cup of coffee and a biscuit. How could I turn those luxuries down?

Once inside, I had a good look around. The church hall was full of tables with various sensory activities. There was also a soft play area on one side of the room, as well as a reading area, some arts and crafts stations, dress-up clothes and all sorts of toys and games.

We made our way over to the soft play area and I plopped Pumpkin down into the ball pool. She’d never been in one before, so she was a little uncertain about it at first. However, she quickly figured it out and had a great time kicking her legs and picking up the brightly coloured balls.

She also practiced standing – she’s getting really good at it and only fell a couple of times. Each time she toppled over she would cry, not realising that, unlike at home, this was a nice soft landing. The crying never lasted long, though, and as soon as I put her back into a standing position, she’d start happily gurgling again.

Next, she spent a bit of time in a Bumbo, pretending to be a photographer like Mummy.

Then we moved on to a large Fisher Price play centre.

I didn’t realise until this point that while Pumpkin had been playing, mums and children were continuing to file in. It took about half an hour, if not more, to get everyone signed in. Later, the manager told me that this was an unusually busy day. I bet the recent change in weather was to blame.

When Pumpkin got tired of the soft play, we headed over to the reading area for a few minutes. As we sat there looking at a board book about pirates, I noticed that tables and chairs were being moved around and everyone was congregating at one end of the room. It took a while for me to figure out that snack time was about to begin.

The kids all sat around the long table and plates of crackers, fruits, vegetables and raisins were brought out. Pumpkin and one other baby sat in high chairs at the end of one table – like royalty presiding over the banquet – and there was even birthday cake to celebrate two birthdays.

Most of the mums, I noticed were drinking their tea or coffee while the kids ate, but I didn’t want to leave Pumpkin alone with her collection of food. So, I waited until she was finished.

As I watched her eat, I noticed that the stage curtains were being pulled back.

I hadn’t really taken much notice of the stage before that, but I was completely amazed by what I saw: a huge, multi-level play area, complete with slides, climbing surfaces and a tube that whooshed balls around the enclosure.

The older kids who were new to the play group stared at the jungle-gym in awe. The rest forgot about their food and headed towards the entrance.

Obviously, Pumpkin is too small for this activity, but it won’t be long before she’s scrambling around inside it (and I’m traipsing after her).

She finished eating and I hunted down my caffeine and sugar fix.

Then, coffee in hand and biscuit in mouth, I hauled her back over to the soft play area and set her down in a Jumperoo.

She bounced and giggled and happily screamed while I contentedly sipped my hot drink and scarfed my cookie. Bliss!

I spoke with several parents throughout the day. All of them reported that their little ones sleep soundly when they get home from Mini Montessori – three hours seemed to be the standard nap time. I was certainly looking forward to that! Pumpkin was already starting to show signs of sleepiness.

About half an hour before the session finished, we all headed into the church for a bit of music time. There were tambourines and maracas for the bigger kids and most of them gathered in the front of the room to dance. Pumpkin and I made ourselves comfortable in a pew. Well, as comfortable as you can be in a pew.

As the music time came to an end, there was one final surprise – the bubble machine came out.

Pumpkin had never seen bubbles before, and she thought they were brilliant. She even managed to pop a couple and that elicited short busts of laughter.

Finally, it was time to go home. We had to wait a while for all the double- and triple-parked prams to move out of the way, but once I had her in her seat, she snuggled down and quickly fell asleep. But not before giving a big smile to the manager and getting her sticker.

We headed down the road on foot, towards a local shop and I was surprised that Pumpkin only slept for about half an hour. When we got home, she was more content than normal to play by herself in the playpen. And when she did finally go to sleep, she was out like a light.

I was 100% impressed by our morning at Mini Montessori. For just £3, we got two hours of play, socialisation for both of us, healthy snacks for the baby, caffeine and sugar for me and some pretty good sleep time – I call that great value. Plus, as Pumpkin gets older, she’s going to get more and more out of it. I only regret that we’re just now finding out about it. We’ll definitely be back soon!

What do you think of the Montessori style of teaching? Do you have a favourite local play group? I’d love to hear about it – share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Mini Montessori is located in Upper Belvedere in the London Borough of Bexley. It runs Monday through Friday during term time, with both a morning and afternoon session. To find out more, visit their website.

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