Classic Montessori Materials - The Pink Tower

This is the first in a series of posts about the "Classic" Montessori materials that make our class a "Montessori" Preschool. These standards are always on our shelves. It is worth knowing what these basics are and what they teach.

(on the Bottom Left)

I chose the Pink Tower first because it is the most recognized and iconic of the Montessori materials. Also......O.K. I'll admit....It's Pink and I'm still feeling all Valentine-y :)


The Pink Tower has 10 cubes ranging in size from 1000 cubic Centimeters (each side has a length of 10 centimeters) to 1 cubic Centimeter.

When Maria Montessori developed this material she had dimension, sequence, order and relationship in sizes in mind. She first used in on a green mat because of the way the pink and green looked together. Although, neither the pink or green color are what matters in this work; what matters is the size of and the amount of the blocks. This is considered a 'Sensorial' material, But like most sensorial materials it leads easily into later math skills. (think: relationship in amounts, order and much later cubing numbers.) It also gives us an opportunity to add vocabulary like "biggest" "smallest" "bigger" "smaller." While the child practices building this in the right order, they are "inputting" the information into their brain on many levels, by touch as well as sight. They hold onto the information learned from direct experience with a very real concept until this information is needed to expand upon. The control of error is that if it is out of order, you can see it, and sometimes it falls over.

After the child has mastered building a basic tower and has done so several times, they are ready for extensions of this work. These include tracing the cubes, building all kinds of other creations, looking at a control card on a mat and going to the shelf to choose the correct sized cube and bring it back to verify (pictured below), building along with the brown stair, and many others. The extensions help to refine and solidify the sense of size and dimension, and the new vocabulary.

Valentine/Heart Works for Feburary

These are some of the Valentine-y works we have on the shelves right now. I have several more in the works though. By the end of the month our shelves are always completely different than the beginning. :)

Count the hearts and pin the corresponding number to the card. The back side of the cards and both sides of the clothespins have the correct number written on them, for control of error and the kids can check their work when they finish.

I found this idea on My Montessori Journey (again :) ) The player rolls the die and places the landed on number of chips onto the game board until it is full. This has been great for those who want to work on something with others.

Build a Heart Chain. I found these heart shaped links at Oriental Trading.

Conversation Heart Sorting. Those are not real candy, they are foam beads. I found them at Oriental Trading too! They are ALL ready to progress from this simple sorting and I already have a more complex one ready for Tuesday!

Heart Cutting practice. This has been a big hit. They all love hanging them up when they are done to decorate the classroom in hearts. The added satisfaction of making something "real" is always extra fulfilling.

This transferring activity was kind of an accident. I originally had it out on the shelf with wooden toast tongs and no one really seemed super impressed or interested. My 19 month Old got a hold of the tongs and tore them in two :( I ran up to my practical life bucket and grabbed this Olivewood spoon from Montessori Services to replace it. THEY LOVED IT!! The little red marbles fit perfectly into the spoon, I think that is part of what makes it so appealing.This work always has a line-up to get to now.

Movement

We always have "movement " at the end of class. After the kids have been working so hard in the school room they need to let loose a little before they go home. We do things like:

Balance Beam

Find the sound Race
(I call out a sound and they all race to touch it or hop on it or put their ear on it.)

We also do things like: yoga, dancing, musical instruments and parachute.

Indoor Snow

For our Science Project on Tuesday, we made SNOW!! (We decided there wasn't enough on the ground outside!) I just put bagged ice in our monster of a food processor until it was a nice snow like consistency.

While we played we got to talk about a lot of science-y things like
Crystallization and Liquids and Solids and Density.

Several interesting Igloos and Miniature snowmen were constructed.

Then we decided to see if an ice cube or snow would melt faster and had some practice with observation.




There might have been some tastings........ for purely scientific reasons. ;)

THIS is what its all about! The boy who did this work took a good majority of the classroom time to construct this in the correct order. He struggled, he started over, he wanted to quit, he said he was finished. I told him I KNEW that he could do it. I sat and watched him. The rest of the class gathered to encourage him (and count along.) He stuck with it until it was done and when it was, everyone cheered! High-fives and hugs all around! He was so proud!!
This is what happens when a child is allowed to challenge themselves in their own time and space. They intuitively know when they are ready. The Montessori classroom gives them space to challenge themselves without pressure. The mixed class gives them exposure to lessons they might not quite be ready for. Watching a just older child complete a task makes it seem that much more possible, and one day THEY DO IT THEMSELVES!! They take that with them for the rest of their lives. They OWN their education! The accomplishment is all theirs! That is what I love about Montessori.

Quantifying Practice

I made this work after seeing it on My Montessori Journey (Love that blog! I get so many great ideas there.) The numbers are hard to see in these pictures, but they go from 0-9. I hand embroidered them with contrasting stitching. These are a spin off of the Montessori Spindle Box, which introduces the concept of zero and quantifying. This helps the kids see object to number relation easily. I have noticed especially with the younger students, they have learned to count to ten 'reciting' it like it is one big word 'onetwothreefourfivesixseveneightnineten.' This helps them slow down and realize that each number has a meaning and a corresponding amount.

SNOW!!

Glittery "Snow" Playdough

The animals make footprints in the snow.
We have been reading this book:

and it goes along with it perfectly.

Blue Dropper Transfer

"Snowball" scooping and transfering

Snow Scene Art

We made "snowflakes" for a snack. We used kitchen scissors to cut a tortilla into snowflakes, brushed them with oil, and sprinkled them with cinnamon-sugar.