Recommended Age: 2 and ½ to 3 and ½ years
Purpose: For the child to visually discriminate differences in 2 dimensions (length and width) (note; when the child works with The Pink Tower in a Montessori classroom, the real material requires the child to discriminate 3 dimensions, length, width and weight)
Level of Parent Involvement: Low, once modelled the child may work independently
Prerequisites
- None
Materials
- The paper version of ‘The Pink Tower’ (refer resource pack)
- Blue tac
- The real material consists of:
Ten wooden, pink cubes, differing in all 3 dimensions, whose size increases progressively in the algebraic series of the third power. Starting with the first cube which is 1 cubic centimetre in size, the second cube is the size of 8 of the first and so on
Preparation
- Place the paper version of ‘The Pink Tower’ mixed up on the child’s table
- Decide on an appropriate section of wall space where the child may place the Pink Tower squares with blue tac
Steps
- Invite the child to the activity, taking them to their table
- Notice the Pink Tower squares at the table, let the child know that they will need their work mat, (you may use a towel or bath mat)
- Indicate to the child where to place their mat (in front of the wall where they will be building the Pink Tower, allowing enough space for their body to fir between the mat and the wall)
- Once the child has placed their mat (with some distance between their table and the mat to encourage movement) invite the child to bring the pink squares, one at a time to the mat
- Once all of the squares are on the mat, take a small piece of blue tac and put on the back of each square, the child may help
- Indicate to the child the wall space where you are going to build the Pink Tower
- Take the biggest square and secure it to the wall with the blue tac, at the bottom of the wall
- Take the next biggest square and place it on top of the last in the centre
- Repeat until all squares have been placed on the wall in order from biggest to smallest
- Take the squares down from the wall and place mixed on the mat (the child may help)
- Invite the child to build the Pink Tower
Variations
- Show the child the unit of difference, building the tower to one side and moving the smallest square up the tower
- The child may play an environment game with the Pink Tower squares (cubes in a real setting), finding objects in their environment which are the same size as the cubes
