What are Montessori Mobiles?
Montessori mobiles were carefully designed to stimulate the baby's focus and to help them learn to track objects, understand depth, and learn basic colors differences during the first few months of life.
Hang the mobiles over their play area, a simple mat and a baby gym is the perfect setup to use when baby is awake. The mobiles will give them something to concentrate on. When they're watching the mobiles, they'll first follow the movements with their eye, then turning their heads and then they will start to reach.
It is not recommended to hang the mobiles in the sleeping area, Montessori mobiles are not meant to be used to fall asleep. It is important to give your baby the opportunity to watch the mobiles when they're awake and alert, hang it over their play area.
Hang your Montessori mobile at about 12 inches away from your baby's face. That's the distance babies can see when they're newborns. Each mobile was designed for visual use only, they are not meant to be grasped, so keep it out of the baby's reach.
You can rotate the mobiles depending on your baby's preference. When you notice your baby getting bored or no longer interacting or focusing on the mobile, that means they're ready for new challenges, switch to the next one. After a while, you can bring back a previous mobile and they might be delighted to watch it again, with new eyes.
When to introduce the Mobiles?
The mobiles follow a specific sequence of four mobiles, that are explained below. The recommended age is just a guideline, as every baby is unique.
Munari Mobile | 2+ weeks old
The Munari Mobile consists of black and white geometric shapes and a clear ball that catches and reflects light. As newborn's sight is not fully developed yet, the high contrast shapes will catch the baby's attention and help them tracking the images swinging around.
Octahedron Mobile | 5+ weeks old
The Octahedron Mobile features primary colos (red, blue, and yellow), to help the baby notice colors without overstimulating them with different shapes. The depth of the shape allows your infant to begin coordinating the eyes together focusing on the depth of the triangles.
Gobbi Mobile | 8+ weeks old
The Gobbi mobile is made of five different balls, all the same color with varying in shades, hung from lightest to darkest shade, to challenge the baby differentiating between shades and tones of the same color. The gradation helps them on their visual discriminating skills.
Dancers Mobile | 10+ weeks old
The Dancers mobile features abstract "dancers" whose head, arms and legs move freely. Your baby will be delighted to watch the "people" dancing in the wind. This is made with shiny paper, increasing your baby's visual development from the static colors of the Gobbi mobile.