Let's Make: DIY Montessori Sandpaper Numbers

After picking up my daughter from school one morning, she said, "Mommy, I did the sandpaper numbers today! Can you buy me those?" E had been finding it challenging to adjust to the Montessori method, so this seemed like a milestone. Finally, she'd enjoyed the work! Still, I hesitated to answer. If you're familiar with Montessori didactic materials, you can probably guess why: a set of sandpaper numbers costs upwards of Php1000 locally! It would be a great investment for a school, or even a mom who does Montessori homeschooling or has raised her kids in the Montessori way (and if you are looking for a beautiful, high-quality, Montessori-teacher-approved set, do check out the online store of the wonderfully inspiring Mars Medina of Montessori on Mars). But for a mom with limited resources and patience whose daughter is not strictly Montessori-raised with the tendency to get creative with her usage of materials, the thought of spending over a thousand pesos on a set that might end up painted on, glued together to make a dinosaur house, or used as a raft in a water bin made me feel a bit queasy. I needed a budget-friendly mom hack.

So I decided I'd make a set myself.

Let's Make: a Faux Wooden Table for a Preschooler's Montessori- and Reggio-inspired Play Space

Oh, Montessori moms, your lovely spaces fill me with such envy and sadness. I'd love to have the budget to have beautiful child-sized wooden furniture, with their softly rounded corners and natural wood grain, and the space to set up a peaceful, blissful (uncluttered) prepared environment. Every plastic bin and piece of plastic furniture I bring into our tiny space feels like settling. The perfectionist in me feels discouraged, but the life enthusiast must let go and move on. So, rather than whine and pine away, I decided it was time to make do and makeover an inexpensive plastic table that could be dismantled and stored when we needed to make space for other things. And because my Google searches for "Can I makeover a plastic table?" and "sticking wood to plastic" were of no help, I thought I'd share my mini makeover experience with you, in case you'd like some Montessori-inspired fakery for your kid's space, too.