"... give children china, plates, glass drinking-vessels and fragile ornaments, for these objects become the denouncers of rough, disorderly and undisciplined movements. Thus the child is led to correct himself, and he accordingly trains himself not to knock against, overturn, and break things; softening his movements more and more, he gradually becomes their perfectly free and self-possessed director."
- Maria Montessori
Past me would've thought people were crazy for letting their BABIES use glass cups and breakable plates or bowls. What if they break and they cut or hurt themselves?
New Montessori-inspired me now sees the value in letting children use glass cups and real dinnerware.
At what age can they start?
As early as you'd like!
One of the best things about Montessori for the modern day is that there are so many options available to suit your family and your lifestyle.
For example, we used a mini silicone cup much like the one we have in our store to start. The advantage was that this meant that I could train my daughter on how to use an open cup sooner because I wasn't worried about her biting the glass and hurting her jaws.
Then, we graduated to the mini 90mL glass cup. I've personally tried a lot of the cheap glass cups BUT the problem was ....that they weren't tempered glass.
This meant that when they broke, they broke into small and big sharp pieces! Which always threw me into the panic and "Everybody, evacuate the floor!" mode. Tempered glass is much more durable and if broken, will shatter into small cubed shaped glass instead.
This is why our glass cups are made of Duralex tempered glass - a much safer glass choice for young children and babies.