What Montessori materials are worth purchasing? What can you DIY? These are questions that you probably thought about as you start your Montessori homeschooling journey. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with all the classroom-suited materials and their cost.
Many people have asked us what materials are essential or are worth having in a Montessori home environment and this article should answer that. This is part of the Montesori Within Reach: Essentials series.
Here are the other articles in this series:
- Two Language Materials to Buy and What You Can DIY (you’re here!)
- What Montessori Math Materials are Worth the Investment
- Montessori Sensorial: How to Help Develop the Child’s Senses Within Budget
- 7 Household Items for Montessori Activities That I Wish I'd Tried Sooner
- Essential Montessori Cultural Materials that Open the World
These articles will hopefully make you feel that true Montessori education at home is possible, even with limited budget. We believe that implementing Montessori is not all about the materials but understanding the child and supporting the child’s needs.
While the Montessori method includes many carefully designed materials, in Language, there’s only two particularly valuable investments for your home environment. One of them you might already have around your home. These are the metal insets and language objects (or miniature replicas). These materials offer great value and versatility that make them worth prioritizing in your budget.
What Montessori Language Materials to Buy
1. Metal Insets
Metal insets are among Maria Montessori's most brilliant creations. These geometric shapes with removable frames provide children with indirect preparation for writing through a series of exercises that develop the precise control needed for penmanship. What makes metal insets special is how they simultaneously develop multiple skills essential for writing:
First, they help children master the tripod grip and lightness of touch needed for proper pencil control. As children trace the metal frames and insets, they refine their hand movements, preparing them for letter formation. The curved lines of the circle and ellipse prepare for letters like 'o', 'a', and 'e', while the straight lines and angles of the square, rectangle, and triangle prepare for letters like 'l', 't', and 'v'.
Second, metal insets develop the wrist rotation necessary for fluid writing. Unlike typical tracing activities, metal insets require children to coordinate their hand movements in ways that directly translate to writing letters. This practice strengthens the hand muscles in precisely the way needed for confident handwriting.
Third, these materials build concentration and precision. Children often spend extended periods working with metal insets, gradually increasing their ability to focus on detailed tasks. This concentration is a transferable skill that benefits all areas of learning.
While metal insets are worth purchasing in their original form and may be hard to DIY yourself due to the precision required, they provide essential development of hand control and preparation for writing. The different stages of exercises using the Metal Insets are provided in the Hometessori Language Manual.
If this still is not affordable or if you don't have a space for it, using a stencil with big shapes can be used as an alternative.
2. Language Objects
Another material that you can use for several activities are the language objects, or miniature replicas. These small, realistic representations of different things or creations (planets, animals, landmarks, cultural artifacts, etc.) provide concrete reference, when real experiences with these objects are not possible. When children can hold, examine, and manipulate an object while learning its name, they form stronger neural connections than when simply shown pictures or told words.
What makes language objects particularly valuable is their versatility. Initially, they serve as vocabulary builders for young children learning their first words. Later, they become tools for sound games, where children identify initial, middle, or ending sounds in words—crucial phonological awareness skills that precede reading. As children progress, these same objects support beginning reading and writing activities, like matching objects to written labels or using the movable alphabet to spell the names of objects.
Quality language objects should be realistic, appropriately sized for small hands, and representative of the child's world. Though they represent an investment, a thoughtfully assembled collection can serve children throughout their primary years (ages 3-6) and across multiple areas of language development.
You can look for them at trinket shops and souvenir stores. They might be in keychains or as part of something with different components. Some sets are usually purchased for speech therapy. Some are creations of clay artists. Some might be mini-erasers.
You can begin collecting different kinds like:
- Objects that begin or end with the key alphabet and phonogram sounds, then place them in a drawer like this.
- Classified animals; good ones look close to reality (i.e., showing enough details like hooves, scales, skin patterns, and colors representing real species)
- Cultural items from all over the world (e.g., parasol for Japan, jeepney for Philippines, small wooden mask from Africa, sombrero for Mexico)
The Hometessori Language Manual provides detailed guidance on how to use language objects effectively across different developmental stages, from basic naming activities to advanced sound games that prepare children for reading and writing.
Other DIY Language Materials That Complement These Investments
The other language materials can be effectively created at home, especially using resources from Hometessori Print Kit. Here are some examples:
-
Sandpaper letters are used for training the child’s hand in forming the letter symbols by specific hand movements. These can be crafted using sandpaper (or fine sand), laminated colored papers (blue and pink), and glue.
-
Sandpaper phonograms are similar with the sandpaper letters but these are green-backed with letter combinations that make specific sounds. See the Hometessori Language Print Kit: Print | Cursive
-
The movable alphabet is another material that can be made at home. While commercial versions are crafted in wood, functional alternatives can be created using the printable version in the Hometessori Language Print Kit. This material allows children to express their thoughts in writing before they have developed the mechanical ability to form letters with a pencil.
-
Nomenclature cards usually include three parts (i.e., control cards with pictures with labels, picture cards, and label cards). These help children review and build their vocabulary and categorization skills. Some nomenclature card sets includes definition cards too that are suitable for emerging readers. With the Hometessori Print Kit, these are ready-to-print, easy-to-prep, and with maximal use of space.
-
Reading cards, booklets, and folders in the Hometessori Language Print Kit offer progressive reading materials that follow the Montessori sequence, from simple phonetic words to more complex sentences and stories, supporting the child's natural reading development.
-
Grammar symbols can also be created with the Hometessori Print Kit (found in Volume 2) and used for multiple lessons, helping children identify and understand different parts of speech. Heather on her IG @thedailygrove shared her DIY version using foam for backing which makes it easier for the child to hold each piece.
-
Reading analysis symbols and prepared slips also are useful materials for helping children understand sentence structure and the function of words in context. These can also be DIYed and used multiple times like the DIY Grammar Symbols. You can find these in the Hometessori Language Print Kit (volume 2).
Why This Language Approach Works
The beauty of Montessori language materials lies in their sequential design and integration. Each material builds upon previous learning while preparing for future skills. Metal insets develop the hand control needed for writing with sandpaper letters. Language objects provide the concrete vocabulary that children will later write with the movable alphabet. Each component serves multiple purposes across different developmental stages.
📌 Pin this for future reference ☝️
By investing in quality metal insets and language objects while supplementing with carefully crafted DIY materials from resources like Hometessori, parents can provide a comprehensive language environment that supports natural development from spoken language to reading and writing. This balanced approach honors the Montessori principle of following the child's development while remaining practical for home implementation.
Remember that in Montessori, less is often more. A few well-chosen, high-quality materials that receive frequent use offer more value than numerous materials that overwhelm or confuse. The combination of metal insets, language objects, and thoughtfully prepared DIY materials creates a language-rich environment that supports children's natural progression toward literacy while respecting both developmental needs and practical constraints.
