If I had to choose one word to describe my 4 year old, it would be BUSY. I mean, this kid went from sweet and snuggly, wanting to cuddle all day long, to 100 MPH 24/7. He is constantly moving. He can’t sit still even when he’s sitting. He’s fidgety and jittery and has SO much energy all.the.time!!! He doesn’t stop talking and he even complains at bedtime that sleeping is “boring.”

This is why we got him a Pikler Climbing Triangle for Christmas. (Fun fact! The climbing triangle, which is a triangle shaped indoor climbing frame, was developed by Hungarian pediatrician Emmi Pikler) They are a great tool for Montessori learning. They encourage movement, coordination, imagination, and of course play. I’ve wanted to get him one of these for years but they were always a little too pricey. Once he got older, I thought he’d be too big so I was so excited when I found this one. It’s just one I stumbled upon on Amazon (and this post is not affiliated with Amazon or the company I purchased it from- if you’re interested in the link or more details about it specifically, dm me!)

This one is bigger than most: it’s almost 4 feet tall which was a huge reason we chose it because Lincoln is a bigger kid and I was afraid he’d outgrow most of them. It has an 130 lb capacity. It’s foldable and stores easily against a wall, it has an adjustable ladder/slide and it was under $200! I can’t give it a full review because he hasn’t tried it yet, but I have no doubt he will love it and spend hours on it (hopefully wearing himself out too).

Another thing we love to incorporate is video games because mental exercise is important too! We absolutely love Nintendo and puzzle solving games like Super Mario and Legend of Zelda, they are so good for hand-eye coordinator, memory, and creativity. So every year we open a video game to play as a family on Christmas Eve This year our choice was Sonic Frontiers because we’re big sonic fans over here, but we haven’t played it yet, so I’ll review it later!
~Karen