Pink Tower and Counting

This is a great math and reading activity. The numbers are available in Spanish, French and English.

The pink tower is such a important foundation in Montessori sensorial education. For example, you introduce degrees of word comparisons with the pink tower. You teach words to describe the smallest to the largest cube, words such as small, smaller, smallest, large, larger, largest. It is also the first piece of math equipment.

Montessori was observant about how children learn to count. In our Montessori classroom we used the pink tower to teach linear counting. The smallest cube was one and the largest cube was ten. The difference in cube sizes makes it possible for a young child to see that each number gets bigger when they count the cubes from 1 to 10. Most preschool children can count (which is wonderful!), like memorizing a rhyme, but they don't always understand the value of the numbers. Using the pink tower puts together the concept of counting and value in an easy, tidy package.

Primary Activity

You can make a control or an answer card by cutting out each card and gluing them onto tag board or cardboard in proper order (smallest to largest). For very young children, you can cut off the numbers to avoid confusion.

Let your children match the individual cards onto or under the control card.

Next, we can make the exercise a little bit more challenging by putting the cards in order without the control card.

The first step is to show your child how to put the cards in order, smallest to largest, in a row from left to right. You can do this activity on a rug or table. For younger children, use 3 to 5 cards. Add more cards as they master the lesson.

After this activity is mastered, use the cards to teach counting from 1 through 10. Again, start with a few cards for younger children. Add another card until your child can count to 10.

You can make these printouts as 3 part cards for older children. Make control cards by printing a second printout. Count and use the matching number under each card. Use the three period lesson if your child needs to learn number symbols. Older students can use the written number words for this exercise.

Use the Spanish or French pink tower cards in the same manner as the English cards. This is a great way teach a new language to your child.

Always adapt lessons for your child's needs.

Other Concrete Activities

Use measuring cups that vary in size as another way to count concrete objects. You can use nesting toys or ring stacking towers too.

Check out amazon.com for more nesting toys.

Comments

Crystal

posted at 11:29 a.m. on February 10, 2010

The word diez is spelled wrong...

Amy

posted at 9:46 p.m. on May 18, 2010

RE: pink tower counting. Thanks for sharing. I would do it myself, but it seems they are protected from changes. If you would like to add French at some point.... French: un deux trois quatre cinq six sept huit neuf dix

kehinde

posted at 11:40 a.m. on October 15, 2010

Dear sir/ma, I will like to have a full dvd of montessori activities and i will be happy if you can grant me that assisstant, Thanks kehinde from Nigeria address:- 2, isola bello street akiode ojody ,ikeja,lagos

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posted at 4:15 p.m. on November 12, 2010

Is it possible that the cards offer the stairs brown Thank you

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posted at 5:38 a.m. on January 7, 2011

Dear Sir/Mam, This is Ying from China, I am very interested in Montessori education. hope to get more helpful information!

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posted at 1:09 p.m. on March 21, 2011

iam a director of studies in a school but i want montessori experience

RAJANI SANAL

posted at 12:45 p.m. on April 8, 2011

Dear sir/mam,I am Rajani Sanal from India. I am the principal of a pre-school and interested in Montessori teaching methodology.I want to make my school a certified Montessori school. Request more helpful information and guidance.

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posted at 9:34 a.m. on April 18, 2011

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emilie hingco

posted at 5:51 a.m. on April 27, 2011

hello.. i am very glad to find this website.montessori approach is very excellent.this site is very helpful. hope to get more helpful information.!

Ruth Ayertey

posted at 3:33 a.m. on August 12, 2011

Dear Sir/Ma, i feel so blessed after readn dis info. am currently in a university in Ghana studing Early Childhood Education. i would be glad if i should get more of such useful info. thanks

motywacja

posted at 7 a.m. on April 18, 2012

Thank you for the very interesting game. I will show it to my friends :)

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posted at 8:54 a.m. on May 3, 2012

Cool post! Thanks a lot!

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posted at 5:42 a.m. on June 5, 2012

This game especially is good for me and my children, than you a lot!

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posted at 12:27 p.m. on September 28, 2012

I have finally found an article as informative as yours. It is grounded on reality. Keep posting great articles. Thanks..!

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posted at 3:21 p.m. on October 6, 2012

would you please tell me how i can have mathematics'lesson plans??

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posted at 3:25 a.m. on October 11, 2012

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posted at 12:57 p.m. on October 12, 2012

I hope parents can try this activity with their kids because they are usually the best people responsible for their child's learning.

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posted at 12:31 a.m. on October 17, 2012

Pink tower is most important of Montessori education. Thanks to great thought and nice posting..

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posted at 7:50 a.m. on October 19, 2012

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posted at 3:43 a.m. on October 29, 2012

What a nice and interesting way to teach children such an important ting as numbers. I was looking for something like this for quite a long time.

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posted at 4:28 a.m. on October 30, 2012

wow!.. this is very nice program teaching children is such a good thing you should do.. thanks for sharing a blog like this i hope you can teach more children

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posted at 10:20 p.m. on November 29, 2012

I am from U.K and I am very interested in Montessori education and I want some more helpful information on this topic!

Mfon Augustus

posted at 7:47 a.m. on December 13, 2012

I appreciate your good work. Is it possible to get your posts and activities in DVD. My son is a preschooler & would love him to learn through the montessori method. Expecting your response. Thanks.

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posted at 2:20 a.m. on December 19, 2012

My daughter goes to a montessori school and I am clueless in the way they are taught, I was helping my child to understand math more this summer by buying workbooks and she didnt know the math signs in order to complete the problem.

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posted at 10:15 a.m. on December 19, 2012

Pink tower? that sounds so awesome and yes I got to learn further about this too.

Moshen Zargar

posted at 4:33 a.m. on December 26, 2012

Montessori schools usually go from preschool through elementary. Once the child transfers to a public middle school, do they have problems with the new environment, especially in light of the no-child-left-behind methodology which assumes all children should develop at the same rate within ridgid scholastic structures?

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posted at 1:34 a.m. on February 6, 2013

I haven't really understood well how these pink towers work to educate children, but it seems the school is doing an excellent job on this one. Their approach is very scientific and this is why they are achieving fantastic results. Their strategy would make a good example for all other schools.

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posted at 1:58 a.m. on February 22, 2013

What is the ideal age for kids to be trying out this Pink Tower method? How effective has it been in its history of use? Is it possible to get handouts that can be used for teaching my students this?-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Students as young as toddlers can use every other block when stacking the pink tower. It is a main part of Montessori hands-on learning that teach concrete concepts of size and shape. You can use the printouts provided for teaching your students. /Happy Learning! MM

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posted at 1:19 a.m. on March 7, 2013

This system of teaching children how to count is very effective as compared to the traditional methods. This is why I have enrolled my child into a Montessori school. The educational system is more detailed and efficient, and the premium you pay is worth every penny.

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posted at 2:11 a.m. on March 14, 2013

I cannot stress enough how an important role this pink tower played in the development of my son in school. Because of it, he has little difficulty in his later school years and he has excellent grades in his language and math classes. I will definitely recommend moms to look for schools that offer this type of learning tool.

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posted at 12:52 a.m. on March 20, 2013

There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth - not going all the way, and not starting.

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posted at 12:16 a.m. on April 20, 2013

There are already thousands of people who are attesting to the effectiveness of this Pink Tower and I am included in this list. My child is doing well in his Math class because of this. They should put this a part of the school program permanently.

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posted at 6:29 a.m. on May 2, 2013

Now that was an innovative blog post on the pink tower. Pink tower has been one of the most important foundation in Montesorri sensorial education. It was good to read about the primary activity and thus has been very useful.

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posted at 9:45 p.m. on May 13, 2013

Counting is a very basic skill that children must learn as early as possible. This method is not only effective but it also provides a stronger mathematical foundation for the children. It just shows how teaching methods have evolved over the years in the subject of Math.

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