Reach out and touch this

One of the great things about the Montessori method for infants is it is so inexpensive.  Almost all of the baby equipment you see in the baby section of your mainstream mall is totally not necessary.  One prime example are those play gyms.  They range from the mildly overstimulating to the equivalent of Las Vegas for babies.

This is why I love the simplicity of the Montessori toy tripod.  Once your baby is ready to try to reach out for things you can set up a toy tripod with a wooden ring for the baby to try to touch and hit.  So simple and only one thing for baby to concentrate on and try to master at a time.

Originally I was planning to make the wooden tripod from this tutorial but my husband came up with a metal tripod from his work.  It's pretty tall but works like a charm.  At eight weeks I set it up with this ring hanging from a string.  Baby J took to it right away. 

I love the concentration on his face while he was trying to connect with the ring.

The joy on his face when he realised he was able to hit the ring.  He kept at it for quite a while with a huge smile the whole time.

Another option is to put a bell on a long piece of elastic.  I couldn't find a large bell so I used this bell bracelet from my music basket.  He likes to hit this and hear the bells although the wooden ring seems to be his favourite.  I have them both tied to the top of the tripod and alternate them.