About Us

The For Small Hands catalog and website were created as offshoots of Montessori Services, an educational supply business. For Small Hands was originally called, quite simply, the Mini-Catalog, because it was a condensed version of the Montessori Services school catalog. It featured items appropriate for families and children to use at home. Teachers asked us to publish a family catalog, knowing its products would enable children to participate more easily and successfully in the daily life of the family. As well, For Small Hands helps parents of young children learn about and appreciate the Montessori process and philosophy more fully.

Montessori Services was founded in Pennsylvania by Jane Campbell in 1976. Jane, an AMI-trained Primary Montessori teacher, found it extremely challenging to track down all of the specialized items used in her classroom. She began the business as a service for teachers, to save them time and money. Over the years the business has grown to include a variety of educational materials to support all areas of the Montessori curriculum. Our main focus, however, has remained the same—providing materials for what Maria Montessori called the exercises of Practical Life. These activities help children learn everyday skills such as pouring, sweeping, preparing a snack, or helping in the yard.

Montessori Services moved cross-country to Santa Rosa, California by school bus (yes, by school bus) in 1982. In 1987 the business moved from “the garage” to a small warehouse on “A” Street, and in 1995 it relocated again to a larger warehouse on Cleveland Avenue. In the summer of 2001, Montessori Services moved to West Barham Avenue, and, in Summer 2008, it moved into it's current location on West 9th Street. A longtime dream was realized in 2002 with the completion of a showroom where we display all the products in the Montessori Services and For Small Hands catalogs. It's open to the public and we welcome visitors. See our Contact Us page for hours and directions.

Over the years, the popularity and success of this catalog has validated our feeling that parents needed a resource for the kind of materials we offer. In the fall of 2004, we created the For Small Hands website to give families easier access to our products.

We value input from our customers and would love for you to send us any comments or suggestions.

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11 West 9th Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95401  Tel: 888-274-4003