I Thought Montessori Toys Were Overhyped Until I Saw This

In our house, we’ve just passed the wild twos, which any parent knows is quite the ride. But lately, the shift in how our son plays has been hard to miss. He’s not just stacking or banging toys together anymore. He’s building little worlds, giving objects roles, and turning even empty food containers into part of a story.

Watching that change has been exciting, but it also made me realize that some of his toys weren’t really meeting him where he is anymore. Around the same time, I kept seeing ads for Montessori-style materials. To be honest, I didn’t get the hype. Everything felt a bit overdone, and I wasn’t convinced we needed to turn playtime into something so structured.

Still, I couldn’t ignore that he was ready for something different, so I started looking into options. The more I researched, the more I felt stuck. A lot of the wooden toys felt overly serious for his age, and anything screen-based was out of the question for us. I wanted something engaging, but still playful and age-appropriate.

Then one afternoon during school pickup, I saw something that completely shifted my perspective. Our son had found another child’s toy and was completely absorbed in it. He was flipping through it, pulling at pieces, matching things, totally focused in a way I hadn’t seen before. We actually couldn’t leave because he refused to give it back until the other child’s parents came over. When I asked them about it, they told me it was My First Book.

They mentioned it was Montessori-inspired, and I’ll admit, I felt that hesitation again. But at that point, I had already seen how much he loved it, so it felt worth trying.

We ended up ordering the Baby Shark Busy Book (he chose the yellow one), and when it arrived, I was still a bit unsure. That said, I was immediately impressed with how sturdy everything felt. The backpack held its shape, the book itself was well made, and nothing about it felt flimsy or disposable. I assumed the real test would be how long it kept his attention, or how quickly the pieces would start going missing. But over time, neither of those things happened.

Six months in, he still plays with it regularly, and I’ve noticed real changes in how he engages with it. The interactive elements like zippers, snaps, and matching pieces have helped build his fine motor skills, and the different activities encourage problem solving in a way that feels natural, not forced. It also fits really well with the imaginative play he’s already drawn to, which has made a noticeable difference in his confidence when he plays independently.

It’s also been one of the few things that can hold his attention for longer stretches of time. He’ll sit and work through different parts of the book, figuring things out and repeating them until he gets it right, which is something I hadn’t really seen before at this level.

The only real downside is that choosing the Baby Shark version means we hear those songs quite a bit more than we used to, but it’s a tradeoff I can live with.

I’ll also say that the price initially gave me pause. It’s not the cheapest option, and I did hesitate before ordering. But when I thought about how many smaller toys we’ve bought that only held his interest for a week or two, it started to feel more reasonable. It easily replaces several of those shorter-lived purchases.

Overall, it ended up being one of those rare finds that actually lives up to what it promises. He enjoys it, it supports his development in a way that feels natural, and it gives me a bit of breathing room during the day. And as someone who was originally skeptical of anything labeled Montessori, that’s not something I expected to say.

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