Montessori Mates
The Montessori Placemat Story – how it all started!
In the words of Karen - Montessori Mates founder:
When my daughter, Maisie, was 14 months old, I bought a cheap fabric placemat with intentions to DIY it and sew the outlines of the plate, spoon, fork, and cup onto it – like I had seen so many other mums had done online.
One morning, after having washed and dried the fabric placemat, I noticed that it had wrinkled, so I quickly ironed it and brought it out for Maisie to use for our usual (but messy!) Weetbix breakfast.
It was a disaster! The placemat slid around the table as Maisie pushed and pulled on it, milk and Weetbix spilled all over it, and the worst part was when I realised that I couldn’t just wipe it clean or throw it in the dishwasher like I used to with her silicone bowl. I couldn’t see this working out in the long run.
But then I thought, why not have a silicone Montessori placemat? I searched online and found a few options but they weren’t modern, the correct size, and none were made of silicone at the time.
That’s when I decided that I would make them myself and I fell in love with the idea of promoting not just the Montessori way but more independence in the home for ALL children!
Our Mission
The idea of spreading Montessori into more homes around the world is what really drives me with Montessori Mates.
I also believe that Montessori can be adapted to make use of what we have today in terms of resources, information and materials.
I don’t believe that you have to be 100% Montessori or stick to just Montessori but as a first-time parent, it really was the start of becoming a more patient, child-led, observant and respectful mum. It led me down the path of Baby Led Weaning, RIE, Open-Ended play, Waldorf, Pikler, Reggio and Steiner philosophies.
Montessori is my core parenting style but it’s speckled with everything and anything else that may align and then we just adjust it to suit our modern-day living and family style.
My dream for Montessori Mates is that it can be a tool to help more parents be more confident and able to implement a lot of the Montessori principles into their own homes.
So, thank you for joining me on this journey!
