Montessori visual mobiles are designed to provide developmentally appropriate stimulation to infants.

There are a series of four mobiles that align with the Montessori philosophy, usually introduced in the following order.

1. Munari mobile

2. Octahedron mobile

3. Gobbi mobile

4. Dancers mobile

1) Munari mobile

This is the first of the Montessori Visual Mobile series. It is made up of various two-dimensional shapes in black and white, as well as a clear sphere, providing the greatest contrast for a newborn’s developing vision. This mobile encourages focus and builds their concentration since it is not overly stimulating. As the mobile is extremely light, it moves gently along with the air in the room. This way, the baby is able to track the movement of the mobile with her eyes. Give the baby uninterrupted viewing time of the mobile, and she has just started to do her first real work. The Munari mobile is best suited to babies three to six weeks old.

2) Octahedron mobile

The next mobile in the series is the Octahedron mobile. It is made up of three octahedrons in the primary colours red, yellow and blue, hung at varying heights. Best introduced at around five to eight weeks, the primary colours in this mobile offer enough contrast for a baby to distinguish them from eachother (unlike colours like orange and yellow). The octahedrons are designed to lay the foundations for future understanding of geometric proportion, relationships and patterns.

3) Gobbi mobile

The Gobbi mobile is the next in the Montessori Visual Mobile series. It is made up of four spheres in graduating shades of a single colour, stimulating the baby’s developing vision. This mobile is introduced at around seven to ten weeks, because by then babies can see the full colour spectrum. The colour gradations in this mobile help to refine a baby’s chromatic sense by challenging her to differentiate between shades of the same colour. The spheres are also hung at increasing heights to develop a baby’s spatial awareness.

4) Dancers mobile

The dancers mobile is an iconic Montessori mobile that features dynamic human forms with moving parts. The arms, legs and head of the figures bob separately with the wind, which provide a visual challenge for a baby to track with his eyes. As the parts move separately, the light hits them differently while the shapes and colours stay the same. This is something adults take for granted but babies are just learning which attributes are constant and which ones change.

Mobiles are an infant’s first work, so they should be offered for uninterrupted viewing. If the baby is too stimulated, she will look away, but will look back and resume her focus when she is ready. It may not happen immediately, but with some patience and lack of interference, concentration will develop even in infants.

We bought our mobiles from Bellascasa on Etsy, and I definitely recommend them. If you are based in the UK, then you can check out MammaMontessori on Etsy.

For more information on how we use our Montessori mobiles in our movement area, you can read my post Montessori Baby: Month 1.