Is the Nugget Montessori?!

Considering buying a Nugget comfort kids couch and wondering how it fits the Montessori learning style?! Let’s talk about how you can use a Nugget in a Montessori home!

Nuggets are an awesome toy for any home playroom. We are obsessed with ours and use it to build forts, slides, obstacle courses, and lots of other configurations!

However, if you follow the Montessori method, you might be questioning whether a Nugget is the right fit for you.

We don’t personally follow Montessori, though I respect those who do. But, I surveyed several parents who follow Montessori and are familiar with Nuggets to answer this popular question for you all!

Is the Nugget Montessori?

The Nugget isn’t precisely Montessori. It’s not one of the specific Montessori materials.

Montessori learning focuses on learning through practicing every day tasks. It’s not so much focused on physical play. However, gross motor skills ARE an important part of Montessori learning!

Technically speaking, Nuggets fall more under Waldorf than Montessori. Waldorf teaching is more focused on imaginative play. Montessori is more about making kids self sufficient.

But, just because a Nugget might not fit into a Montessori preschool doesn’t mean that they couldn’t work in a Montessori-based home environment.

How can you use a Nugget as a part of a Montessori home?

While Nuggets aren’t specifically Montessori, they can absolutely be incorporated into a Montessori home and lifestyle. They definitely are not anti-montessori!

Nuggets are open ended and easily manipulated, making them great for the open ended play that Montessori promotes.

Montessori is also very focused on making kids self sufficient. So, if the Nugget is set up in a way that it’s accessible to kids, it’s absolutely Montessori. For example, if they can’t safely get on a chair or couch to read alone, a low-to-the-floor Nugget “couch” is perfect!

If you use a Nugget with your Montessori kids, you will not want to do elaborate builds for them but instead let them accomplish that task for themselves – even if it means their builds are much simpler!

Just like you get a break from work at the end of the day, the Nugget is a great way to give Montessori kids a break from work at the end of the day!

While the Nugget isn’t specifically Montessori, it definitely can fit with the principles and underlying intent of the method!

Any more questions about Nuggets and Montessori?

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