buying Montessori materials

There are a wide variety of places to order proper Montessori materials and the other stuff one finds in a Montessori classroom.  I pretty much love it all.  Except the plastic, in my opinion there should be next to no plastic in a Montessori environment.  But that could be just me...and all AMI teachers maybe?

First up - the real and only company that probably should be in business.  Nienhuis.  They are based in Holland and their stuff costs a zillion dollars.  Although I always have found their paper Curriculum support items affordable.  They used to send out their catalog for free and it is well worth getting just to see the beauty of it.  If you have a big classroom full of kids, then this is really the stuff you need if you want it to last.

Michael Olaf is another big name company.  Last I saw one of their catalogs they did not sell many proper materials but they do have all the other stuff.  Best part - lots of elementary items.  Their website is a little difficult, but you can buy a catalog and it is well worth the $.

Montessori Services is another another company every Montessori teacher loves.  They have a lot of practical life items, things for the home.  Also good just to use as a resource on how to put things together.    They also offer some of the big things for Cosmic Education at the elementary level.  Time Line of Life I love.

There are a lot of far cheaper places to find Montessori materials.  Alison's Montessori, Montessori'n'Such, and a whole bunch of seemingly Chinese sellers that offer materials very cheaply but kill you in shipping.  If your overseas it might be worth looking into locally sourced materials.  Also locally made furniture can be good.  In Beijing I got hooked up with a furniture maker who was making Chinese - esque Montessori furniture that a Jewish woman was exporting.  I ended up buying a cute table and chairs and a small bench for my toddler, at the time, to sit and take her shoes on and off.  I also got him to copy a wooden play kitchen.  Totally not Montessori, but my daughter loved it.  Also, using glassware in the play kitchen made all the other Embassy moms sure I was crazy.

  Various etsy sellers have nice things, like these.  I really think every child should have a floor table to do work, even if you just cut the legs off of a real small table.  The kids in my classes always were drawn to them, but again they could be made locally.  I think that sums up my 'where to buy Montessori stuff' ideas.