Our computer is on the fritz right now... I'm unable to upload photos, so I'm going to have to be patient and wait until next week to show you all the fun things Elise and I have been doing! In the meantime, here are some photos of a Pink Tower extension I just found from my teaching days.
Oh, Pink Tower, how I miss you. You're certainly not just any old stack of blocks!
For those of you unfamiliar with the Pink Tower, it's a set of 10 wooden cubes, ranging in size from 1 to 10 centimeters. It was one of the first lessons presented to every three-year-old student in my classroom, but it was NOT just for the little ones.
One of my favorite things about the Montessori sensorial materials is that the opportunity for exploration is limitless. The Pink Tower can be used for matching activities, language lessons (little/big, big/bigger/biggest, ect), and in combination with the Broad Stair (This one was definitely a favorite.) The Pink Tower can continue to challenge older children by introducing them to concepts like weight, area, and volume.
Here are some photos of a bright and busy six-year-old finding the area of one side of each of the cubes of the Pink Tower.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Pink Tower, it's a set of 10 wooden cubes, ranging in size from 1 to 10 centimeters. It was one of the first lessons presented to every three-year-old student in my classroom, but it was NOT just for the little ones.
One of my favorite things about the Montessori sensorial materials is that the opportunity for exploration is limitless. The Pink Tower can be used for matching activities, language lessons (little/big, big/bigger/biggest, ect), and in combination with the Broad Stair (This one was definitely a favorite.) The Pink Tower can continue to challenge older children by introducing them to concepts like weight, area, and volume.
Here are some photos of a bright and busy six-year-old finding the area of one side of each of the cubes of the Pink Tower.
First, she traced the outlines of one side of each cube on a piece of 1cm graph paper.
Next, she colored and cut out the squares. This child was able to skip count by square centimeters to determine the area. A child could also do this by counting each square centimeter.
Here's her finished work!
I'll be popping back in later this week with some more fun little things. Hope you all have a great week!
Very cool!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, very informative - I didn't think they were so many different activities that could be done with the pink tower. I am still not sure I understand what the brown stairs are all about if you would like to explain further!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your computer...my laptop and I have a love and hate relationship. When it works I love it, when it doesn't...that's not very nice, is it?
Thanks! The Broad Stair/Brown Stair is a set of 10 rectangular prisms that are all the same length, but decrease in height and width from 10 cm to 1 cm. Both the Broad Stair and Pink Tower were very popular in my Montessori classroom, but I don't know if I will be buying them for Elise - they're pretty expensive, and I don't really know how realistic they are in a home environment. Have you bought any "official" Montessori materials for Sixtine?
DeleteYes, that is so true about laptops. Ugh. My mom has loaned us hers for the week, and we're getting a new one on Friday. I'm excited!
Here's a link to a post I wrote when I was still teaching:
DeleteA Broad Stair Variation