A move towards rugs

Rachel here. Reese has no room on the kitchen table. Emma Grace has no self control. This leaves huge problems in the Montessori style I'm trying to do here. :) In hopes that we can move towards a rug for Reese to work on, I'm trying to find more Montessori things for Emma Grace to do. I've found parents that give their toddlers "mystery baskets" and rugs to work on while their older children are doing Montessori. I just wasn't sure if that would really work. Emma is all about being like her big sister, and she LOVES to get into EVERYTHING... just check out the stash of kitchen supplies she's stolen out of my drawers and has hoarded in her own pot. No joke... she did this.
I thought I would make other containers of objects for her to explore... on the floor... while Reese attempts to do her thing... on the floor. We'll see how that goes. Here are some ideas... I got a lot of my inspiration from Chasing Cheerios but used objects we already had. These are from a GIGANTIC box of cookie cutters from Grandma. I didn't want to pull too many things out to overwhelm her, so I just opted for different sized circles... I thought this was something Reese could use as well since she's doing some circle activities right now.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE felt/wooden food, and so do my girls. I took out the pieces we own that have velcro... Emma Grace can pull apart and put back together these items... something she already does ALL THE TIME. Melissa and Doug makes tons of this stuff. We're hoping to collect some more because it's so durable, you can practice cutting things/putting things back together, and the girls can't hurt it.

I've found little jars on numerous sites... they are good for screwing and unscrewing the lids. Grandma Nita happened to have some stashed away for the girls the last time we were in Iowa visiting. She also gave the girls the little makeup brushes, so I put them all together along with Reese's little Hello Kitty pocket mirror.

Reese always loved elbow macaroni noodles in plastic containers. We used them as rattles. Why not fill a few of them up with different things? I also recycled the pasta/beans and the red rice from activities that I had done with Reese.

On just about every site I've been looking at, there is a fabric square basket. I have TONS of fabric from different projects and fabric people have given me, so this was simple. The idea is to collect different types of fabrics with different textures.

While Emma Grace was napping, and Reese WAS NOT, I put together this basket for Emma to explore when she woke up. It has soft fabric, a bracelet (also from Grandma Nita), a sponge, a metal whisk, a container of beads, a makeup brush, and a plastic straw.

"Hmmmm... what's all this flair?"

I think it might be safe to say she digs it.