Learning beyond the usual.
At ME Montessori, enrichment activities are not extras bolted onto the end of the day. They are part of how children explore, concentrate, and grow.
Activities as part of the day, not extras
The Montessori philosophy holds that enrichment is not a separate category of childhood — it is embedded in every interaction, every material, every choice a child makes in the room. At ME Montessori, the activities below are woven into the daily rhythm rather than scheduled as add-ons after the main session.
Some activities happen every day. Some are seasonal. Some respond to what children are currently fascinated by. All of them are offered with the same principle that guides everything else here: the child chooses, concentrates at their own pace, and is trusted to know what they need.
Below is what a typical programme at ME Montessori includes. F will update this with any activities or visiting specialists we have confirmed — take this as an accurate overview of the range, and ask us at your visit if you want to know more about any of it.
Music & Movement
Songs, rhythm, simple instruments, and movement. Not performance — participation. Children at this age respond to music in ways that language cannot yet reach, and musical experience in the early years builds the foundations for literacy, numeracy, and emotional regulation.
Yoga & Mindfulness
Simple, age-appropriate yoga and breathing activities that help children develop body awareness, calm, and focus. We weave these into the morning to help children arrive and settle, and use them as a resource throughout the day for moments when the room needs slowing down.
Cooking & Kitchen
A core Montessori practical life activity. Children chop, mix, pour, and prepare real food — not as a craft activity, but as purposeful work. The kitchen is one of the most concentrated places in a Montessori environment. Children who are trusted with real tools and real ingredients apply themselves in a way that structured table activities rarely produce.
Outdoor Learning
Our outdoor space at Bedgrove Park is used every day, in all weathers. Seasonal change, natural materials, physical movement, and the slower pace that being outside naturally brings are all part of how children develop at ME Montessori. We plan outdoor time as carefully as indoor time.
Art & Creative Studio
Open-ended art materials — paint, clay, collage, charcoal, natural materials — offered without templates or outcomes. Children who are given genuine artistic freedom develop observation, fine motor skill, and creative confidence that worksheet-based craft activities do not produce. Art at ME Montessori is always a process, never a product.
Science & Exploration
Simple science experiences grounded in observation: what happens when? what does it feel like? how does this change? Foam, water, magnets, plants, insects, light. We do not deliver science lessons — we create conditions for children to notice things and ask questions. That is where real scientific thinking begins.
Language & Bilingual Enrichment
Language is woven through the entire day at ME Montessori — in how we speak to children, the songs we sing, and the stories we share. Our bilingual enrichment is not a separate lesson but an integrated part of daily experience, supporting the cognitive flexibility that exposure to more than one language in the early years uniquely builds.
Flower Arranging & Nature
A classic Montessori practical life activity that builds concentration, fine motor skill, and an aesthetic sense in ways that surprise most adults who watch children do it seriously. Children work with real flowers, real vases, and real scissors — and the care they bring to it is consistently extraordinary.
Physical Play & Gross Motor
Climbing, balancing, running, jumping, carrying — physical challenge is as important to early development as anything that happens at a table or on a shelf. Our space at Bedgrove Park gives us room to offer meaningful physical challenge as a genuine part of the programme, not an afterthought.
How enrichment is planned
Enrichment at ME Montessori is not extra-cost or opt-in. It is part of the session your child attends. Activities are planned weekly based on what children are currently engaged with, the season, and the progression we are supporting for each child's key EYFS developmental areas.
Some activities are offered to the whole setting. Others happen in smaller groups or one-to-one, depending on what a child is ready for. Key persons observe, document, and use that information to plan what each child is offered — not what the timetable requires of them.
Enrichment and the EYFS framework
Every enrichment activity at ME Montessori maps to one or more of the seven areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Music maps to Communication and Language and Expressive Arts. Cooking maps to Understanding the World and Physical Development. Science maps to Maths and Understanding the World. We do not treat enrichment as separate from learning — it is one of the richest forms of it.