Skip to content

The four planes of development – a joyful journey

In May 2026, we – Junnifa Uzodike and Simone Davies – presented at the Montessori Congress in Merida, Mexico: “A Joyful Journey Through the Four Planes of Development, Experiencing Montessori from Childhood to Adulthood.”

The two of us have been deep diving into the four planes of development for the last few years as we wrote 3 books for families covering birth – 18 years. And, through the workshop in Mexico, we wanted to share what we have learned in an experiential way highlighting the conference theme of “joy.”

How the idea for the workshop developed

From February to May 2026, we had many meetings via WhatsApp. At first we were brainstorming, thinking big and blue sky. We laughed, got interrupted by family/colleagues, calls dropped out etc. We were thinking of what are the characteristics that truly define each plane, how does joy look in each plane, how can the participant experience this for themselves.

By early April things were starting to take shape and, by the end of April, the materials had been printed ready to pack in our bags to bring with us to Mexico.

A full circle moment for us

For both of us getting to present at the Montessori Congress is such an honour and full circle moment. We’ve attended Montessori Congresses in Portland (Simone & Junnifa) and Prague (Simone) and are so excited to be able to be your guides at this session in Mexico.

We feel like all the preparation that went into this workshop was our time preparing the environment. Now we hand it over to you to experience it.

We hope that if you attended the session that you walked away with a deeper understanding of the child in every plane of development. That was our goal along with seeing the planes of development as the rhythm of life.

Resources for you to download – free

We invite you to run this session with your community and have provided downloads here for you:

PART 1: Instruction – handouts

  1. First plane – “Guess the feelings cards” (PDF download, A4 size)
  2. Second plane – “Fundamental sources of joy” (PDF download, A4 size)
  3. Third plane – “Design thinking” (PDF download, A4 size)
  4. Fourth plane – “A call to purpose” (PDF download, A4 size)

We used 300g paper to print. Choose ecopaper if possible.

PART 2: Playing cards

Download the set of “Guess the feelings cards” (PDF of 35 double-sided cards to print, A7 size)

We used 300g paper to print. Choose ecopaper if possible.

About Junnifa and Simone

Junnifa Uzodike is an Association Montessori International (AMI) 0–3, 3–6, and 6–12 trained teacher, a wife, and mother to four children, all raised with Montessori principles from in-utero. Junnifa is the founder and head of school of Fruitful Orchard Montessori school in Abuja, Nigeria, serving children from 15 months to 12 years old. She is the co-author of “The Montessori Baby” and “The Montessori Child” books which have been translated to over 20 languages; and sits on the board of Association Montessori Internationale.

Simone Davies is an AMI Montessori educator since 2004 and the author of “The Montessori Toddler” and co-author of “The Montessori Baby” and “The Montessori Child” books. She also has a popular blog, instagram and podcast “The Montessori Notebook” and is mother to two young adults. Simone worked in the classroom for 22 years including running her own parent-child Montessori classes in Amsterdam at her school Jacaranda Tree Montessori. She is now living Montessori in daily life and continues to share her learnings online and through online workshops.