Stimulating the Visual Sense and Developing an Aesthetic Sense: the First Mobiles and Art for the Infant

The first mobiles for the newborn are black and white. This is the first mobile in the Montessori mobile series: the Munari. It was designed by Italian artist, designer and inventor, Bruno Munari (1907-1998).

I also made another black and white mobile from scratch using ballet dancers' silhouettes. I was inspired by Flensted's Hans Christian Andersen Ballet mobile.

As you can see I also printed out a few sets of black and white pictures: images from nature and simple geometric shapes.

Piet Mondrian (1872-1944).

To make this mobile I used art prints from a postcard book and a beautiful crystal that catches the natural light that comes in through the windows. I change the postcards from time to time but I used only the ones with black and white, primary colors and with simple geometric patterns - babies love simple desings.

I thought it would be a nice transition from the purely black and white into the next mobile in the Montessori mobile series, which has only the 3 primary colors: The Octahedrons Mobile. The octahedron is one of the five "Platonic Solids", named after the ancient Greek philosopher Plato.

Mark Rothko (1903-1970).
I bought a beautiful art book with reproductions by Mark Rothko because I thought his simple and pristine style would be extremely interesting and pleasing to a baby's eyes; and so it was ;)

I also used reproductions by Yves Klein (1928-1962) and Joan Miró (1893-1983).

The third mobile in the Montessori mobile series: the Gobbi. 

Designed by Italian artist Gianna Gobbi who worked closely with Maria Montessori. Ours were handmade with love in Japan by a Montessori educator. I bought them in red, green, blue, and purple and they are made with 100% silk embroidery thread; we love them all! 

The Dancers mobile. 

This is the fourth mobile in the Montessori mobile series. This is the first mobile I made for Paloma while I was pregnant and preparing the environment and materials. I made it using blue and gold holographic paper. It's my personal favorite!

The Butterfly mobile from Michael Olaf. This beautiful mobile is handmade in Washington. This was a gift from Paloma's Michael Olaf wish list :)

The Flowing Rhythm Rainbow mobile. Designed and made in Denmark by Flensted.

Another Danish mobile, butterflies in primary colors.

"The child who concentrates is immensely happy." 

- Maria Montessori (The Absorbent Mind)

The purpose of the mobiles and art is to encourage concentration, stimulate the visual sense and develop an aesthetic sense - all of this starting from birth!

"The first essential for the child's development is concentration. It lays the whole basis for his character and social behaviour. He must find out how to concentrate, and for this he needs things to concentrate upon. This shows the importance of his surroundings, for no one acting on the child from outside can cause him to concentrate. Only he can organize his psychic life."

-Maria Montessori (The Absorbent Mind p. 202, Ch. 22)