DIY Montessori Permanence Box For Infants & Toddlers - 8 to 12 Months

I was digging through my old photos, the time when I had not started to document my motherhood & Montessori journey through this blog. And I found this DIY Montessori Permanence Box that I introduced to my son when he was 9 months old. How time flies, he is now 25 months old!

What Is A Montessori Object Permanence Box?

The object permanence box is found in a Montessori environment for infants & toddlers. It is introduced when they are able to sit up without assistance, usually around 8 to 12 months. The aim of this material is to help them develop their sense of object permanence - which means that if an object is out of sight, it does not mean it does not exist. That is the reason why peekaboo is played too.

Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget believed that the development of object permanence, or the ability to understand that objects exist even when not seen, is one of an infant’s primary developmental accomplishments.

This material indirectly also develops focus & concentration, improves their whole hand grasp, and works on fine motor skills too. They learn hand-eye coordination.

Why DIY?

Montessori materials are awesome but they are expensive most of the time because they are wooden mostly.



I have made a lot of DIY Montessori inspired learning materials for my son, including this DIY Montessori Permanence Box. It is super simple!

Materials Needed

• Cardboard box
• Colored papers (optional)
• Adhesive
• Scissors or a cutter
• Ball

I took a small cube shaped cardboard box and cut a hole according to the size of the ball I had. I also made a door kind of opening on another side of that cube. And then I stuck this cube on to another cardboard tray (it was the lid of a shoe box). I pasted colored papers to make it look attractive. 

How To Present The Material? (Source HERE)

1. Put the work mat in place and put the object permanence box on the work mat so it will be in front of the child. Encourage the child to help.

2. Sit facing the child with the work mat between you.

3. Name the box and the ball: “This is the box. This is the ball.”

4. Slowly and deliberately place the ball in the hole.

5. When the ball rolls to a stop in the tray, smile and pick it up.

6. Repeat the action.

7. Invite the child to place the ball in the hole.

8. Once the child begins putting the ball in the hole, quietly move aside and allow her to work undisturbed.

9. When finished, invite the child to put the materials away on a low shelf so she may work with them again when she wishes.

Unfortunately, I could not find any pictures of my son using this material in my archives :( But I remember how happy he was exploring this material, which included eating it too! At that age, they are mouthing everything around them!

"One test of the correctness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child." - Maria Montessori

I would love to know what DIYs have you done for your child? :)

Happy Parenting!

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Importance Of Puzzles For Toddlers In Early Years & How To Teach Or Introduce Your Toddler To Solve Puzzles (VLOG)

Hands down, puzzles help in developing so many skills for those little beings. Here are some of the benefits of solving puzzles - 

Fine Motor Skills / Hand Eye Coordination
The ability to hold those pieces, putting them rightly in the slots/grooves does not come across as easy to the toddlers as it appears to us. 

Emotional Skills & Confidence
Ever seen the triumph face of a toddler after s/he successfully solves the puzzle? They learn patience & gain confidence in the process of solving puzzles!

Memory 
To remember which piece fits where & which one does not, no doubt the memory is being sharpened when your toddlers solves a puzzle

Logic & Problem Solving
Do I need to elaborate more? :) This soft skill is very much needed as they grow into independent individuals. 

Enhances Visual & Spatial Intelligence 
If you have not read about the multiple intelligence theory by Howard Gardner, please do read a summary HERE. And puzzles provide a beautiful opportunity to enhance the visual & spatial intelligence in an individual.


Now, something magical happened in the last 1 week. My son turned 2 yesterday and suddenly he wanted to do puzzles, puzzles and more puzzles! Who is complaining? :) Watch more in the video how & when I introduced puzzles to my son.

We have loved such 1 piece / knobbed puzzles in the beginning of our puzzle solving journey

Then we graduated to 2 piece puzzles like these



Now we are trying to do multiple pieces jigsaw puzzles like these

By the way, once your child has mastered a specific puzzle, if you are wondering what to do with that puzzle, here is an idea how you can repurpose a bunch of puzzles :)



I loved THIS post on how to introduce puzzles to toddlers. Do find time to hop on to this amazing blog.

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Baking A Cake - Day 18 of 18 Days of Christmas-ness Series

This is Day 18, the last day of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. We are ending this series today. The goal of this series was to have lots of fun & bonding with our kids & explore the festivities around us this December in the form of Christmas & New Year themed activities! Hope you have found this series useful for your child. Of course, you can come back to it any time of the year to do these activities!

HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series! 

DAY 18 - Today's activity is BAKING WITH KIDS

My 22 months old son was reading one of his books on his own & blabbering to himself. On a page, there was a cake. He stopped at that page, saw the cake for few seconds & then turned up to me saying, “I want to eat cake, I am hungry”, with those desperate eyes! Who could have said a no! He was adamant he wanted the cake right there & then and was getting impatient. So I thought let me involve him in the cake making process. That way he will get distracted from his “I want now, I want now”, learn that food has to be made & is not readily available. That he would appreciate the entire procedure when he actually sees & does it. And of course, with the benefits of practical life activities as Montessori tells us! We used THIS recipe.

Works on practical life, fine motor, sensorial, maths & sequencing skills.

For more details on what materials to use, how to do the activity step by step, age group, tweaking the activity for younger & older kids, time required for setup, if you can replace some materials with what you already have at home & related resources - Visit my detailed post on BabyChakra 

Have you joined already?

Make sure to either follow The K Junction via Email or via Facebook Page or via closed Facebook Group or follow me on Twitter (@kuhoogupta) or Instagram (@kuhoogupta). 

We end our "18 Days Of Christmas-ness" series with lots of gratitude, read the post HERE.

If you have additional favorite simple toddler Christmas ideas please tell me about them in the comments! I always love finding new ideas!

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Montessori New Year Celebration - Day 17 of 18 Days of Christmas-ness Series

This is Day 17, second last day of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. We are almost at the end of this series. The goal of this series is to have lots of fun & bonding with our kids & explore the festivities around us this December in the form of Christmas & New Year themed activities! Hope you have found this series useful for your child. Of course, you can come back to it any time of the year to do these activities!

HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series! 

DAY 17 - Today's activity is MONTESSORI NEW YEAR CELEBRATION

Works on science, language & gross motor skills.

Tweaking the traditional Montessori style birthday celebration to celebrate birthday of Mother Earth. 

Here is an example setup (Image Source : BlossomVine). I am yet to do it for my son, will update this post with our own set of pics :)

For more details on what materials to use, how to do the activity step by step, age group, tweaking the activity for younger & older kids, time required for setup, if you can replace some materials with what you already have at home & related resources - Visit my detailed post on BabyChakra 

Have you joined already?

Make sure to either follow The K Junction via Email or via Facebook Page or via closed Facebook Group or follow me on Twitter (@kuhoogupta) or Instagram (@kuhoogupta). 

Do come back tomorrow for Day 18, the last day of our "18 Days Of Christmas-ness" series.

If you have additional favorite simple toddler New Year ideas please tell me about them in the comments! I always love finding new ideas!

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DIY Ice Hockey - Day 16 of 18 Days of Christmas-ness Series (VLOG)

This is Day 16 of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. We are almost at the end of this series. The goal of this series is to have lots of fun & bonding with our kids & explore the festivities around us this December in the form of Christmas & New Year themed activities! Hope you have found this series useful for your child. Of course, you can come back to it any time of the year to do these activities!

HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series! 

DAY 16 - Today's activity is DIY ICE HOCKEY

Works on sensorial & motor skills.

Here is a step by step pictorial guide to make Ice Hockey.

Watch it in action in the video below, you will love it !!!

For more details on what materials to use, how to do the activity step by step, age group, tweaking the activity for younger & older kids, time required for setup, if you can replace some materials with what you already have at home & related resources - Visit my detailed post on BabyChakra 

Have you joined already?

Make sure to either follow The K Junction via Email or via Facebook Page or via closed Facebook Group or follow me on Twitter (@kuhoogupta) or Instagram (@kuhoogupta). 

Do come back tomorrow for Day 17 of our "18 Days Of Christmas-ness" series.

If you have additional favorite simple toddler Christmas ideas please tell me about them in the comments! I always love finding new ideas!

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Punch Out 2017 - Day 15 of 18 Days of Christmas-ness Series

This is Day 15 of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. The goal of this series is to have lots of fun & bonding with our kids & explore the festivities around us this December in the form of Christmas & New Year themed activities!

HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series! 

DAY 15 - Today's activity is PUNCH OUT 2017

Works on practical life, maths & fine motor skills.

For more details on what materials to use, how to do the activity step by step, age group, tweaking the activity for younger & older kids, time required for setup, if you can replace some materials with what you already have at home & related resources - Visit my detailed post on BabyChakra 

Have you joined already?

Make sure to either follow The K Junction via Email or via Facebook Page or via closed Facebook Group or follow me on Twitter (@kuhoogupta) or Instagram (@kuhoogupta). 

Do come back tomorrow for Day 16 of our "18 Days Of Christmas-ness" series.

If you have additional favorite simple toddler Christmas ideas please tell me about them in the comments! I always love finding new ideas!

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Winter Snowflakes Activities - Day 14 of 18 Days of Christmas-ness Series

This is Day 14 of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. The goal of this series is to have lots of fun & bonding with our kids & explore the festivities around us this December in the form of Christmas & New Year themed activities!

HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series! 

DAY 14 - Today's activity is WINTER SNOWFLAKES ACTIVITES

This post has multiple activities, the highlight being this Skola Toys wooden snowflake threading toy. I am loving this toy so much that I have been doing this threading for some time now, it is so calming & relaxing ;) Kids benefit equally from this toy. It is a great fine motor activity. You can buy this awesome toy from Skola Toys website HERE at an exclusive 15% discount. Just go to my facebook group "The K Junction - Parenting, Early Learning, Montessori, Music, Healing" HERE & get the discount code from the pinned (topmost) post on the group. You can use this code on their website at the time of checkout. 

There are two more activities related to snowflakes, so do not forget to check them out as well!

Works on fine motor, hand dexterity, concentration & arts. 

Here is the review of Skola Toys anowflake threading toy! Do watch it, you will love it :)

For more details on what materials to use, how to do the activity step by step, age group, tweaking the activity for younger & older kids, time required for setup, if you can replace some materials with what you already have at home & related resources - Visit my detailed post on BabyChakra 

Have you joined already?

Make sure to either follow The K Junction via Email or via Facebook Page or via closed Facebook Group or follow me on Twitter (@kuhoogupta) or Instagram (@kuhoogupta). 

Do come back tomorrow for Day 15 of our "18 Days Of Christmas-ness" series.

If you have additional favorite simple toddler Christmas ideas please tell me about them in the comments! I always love finding new ideas!

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Christmas Manger Color Matching - Day 13 of 18 Days of Christmas-ness Series

This is Day 13 of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. The goal of this series is to have lots of fun & bonding with our kids & explore the festivities around us this December in the form of Christmas & New Year themed activities!

HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series! 

DAY 13 - Today's activity is CHRISTMAS MANGER COLOR MATCHING

Works on visual discrimination & pre-maths skills.

For more details on what materials to use, how to do the activity step by step, age group, tweaking the activity for younger & older kids, time required for setup, if you can replace some materials with what you already have at home & related resources - Visit my detailed post on BabyChakra 

Have you joined already?

Make sure to either follow The K Junction via Email or via Facebook Page or via closed Facebook Group or follow me on Twitter (@kuhoogupta) or Instagram (@kuhoogupta). 

Do come back tomorrow for Day 14 of our "18 Days Of Christmas-ness" series.

If you have additional favorite simple toddler Christmas ideas please tell me about them in the comments! I always love finding new ideas!

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Christmas Nativity DIY Puzzle - Day 12 of 18 Days of Christmas-ness Series

This is Day 12 of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. The goal of this series is to have lots of fun & bonding with our kids & explore the festivities around us this December in the form of Christmas & New Year themed activities!

HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series! 

DAY 12 - Today's activity is CHRISTMAS NATIVITY DIY PUZZLE

Works on logic, fine motor & hand-eye coordination skills.

For more details on what materials to use, how to do the activity step by step, age group, tweaking the activity for younger & older kids, time required for setup, if you can replace some materials with what you already have at home & related resources - Visit my detailed post on BabyChakra 

Have you joined already?

Make sure to either follow The K Junction via Email or via Facebook Page or via closed Facebook Group or follow me on Twitter (@kuhoogupta) or Instagram (@kuhoogupta). 

Do come back tomorrow for Day 13 of our "18 Days Of Christmas-ness" series.

If you have additional favorite simple toddler Christmas ideas please tell me about them in the comments! I always love finding new ideas!

Read More »

Christmas 3 Part Puzzles - Day 5 of 18 Days of Christmas-ness Series

This is Day 5 of "18 Days Of Christmass-ness" series, presented by The K Junction in collaboration with BabyChakra. The goal of this series is to have lots of fun & bonding with our kids & explore the festivities around us this December in the form of Christmas & New Year themed activities!

HERE is the landing page of the series if you have missed any activity in this series! 

DAY 5 - Today's activity is CHRISTMAS 3 PART PUZZLES

Works on logic, fine motor & hand-eye coordination skills.

For more details on what materials to use, how to do the activity step by step, age group, tweaking the activity for younger & older kids, time required for setup, if you can replace some materials with what you already have at home & related resources - Visit my detailed post on BabyChakra 

Have you joined already?

Make sure to either follow The K Junction via Email or via Facebook Page or via closed Facebook Group or follow me on Twitter (@kuhoogupta) or Instagram (@kuhoogupta). 

Do come back tomorrow for Day 6 of our "18 Days Of Christmas-ness" series.

If you have additional favorite simple toddler Christmas ideas please tell me about them in the comments! I always love finding new ideas!

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