Sensorial Materials in the Montessori Classroom – Part 1
At Arbor View Montessori we use Sensorial Materials in the Montessori classroom that increases the child’s awareness and helps the child form more distinguished impressions of their surroundings. This brings order and knowledge to the child, and helps him or her become aware of details by offering contrasted sensations. An example would be the difference between red and blue, and then variously graded sensations, such as many different shades of blue. The material enables the child to know what is red, what is blue, and then to understand the abstraction of blueness and finally the abstraction of color itself. This article will be a multi part series of blogs, with each blog sharing the sensorial significance of a particular Montessori sensorial activity. We begin this week with the Pink Tower:
The Pink Tower
The Pink Tower is a series of ten pink cubes graded in size from one centimeter cubed to ten centimeters cubed. All the blocks are the same color, shape, and texture. To perform the exercises, the child must recognize the graduation in size and build the tower beginning with the longest cube and finally placing the smallest cube on top. The exercise is self-correcting because a block placed in the improper order will be immediately noticeable and may cause the tower to topple. Size in three dimensions is introduced to the child by the use of the Pink Tower.