The Montessori Red Rods Lesson Activity

The Montessori Red Rods, Pink Tower and Broad Stair are a sequence of materials designed to enable a young child to explore dimension.

How to present the Montessori Broad Stair Lesson Activity
How to present the Montessori Pink Tower Lesson Activity

MONTESSORI RED RODS ACTIVITY:

The Montessori Red Rods (also known as “Long Rods”) – Montessori Sensorial Lesson Activity for Ages 0 to 6

MONTESSORI RED RODS OBJECTIVES:

• To develop the child’s visual and muscular perception of length.
• To develop the child’s co-ordination of movement.
• To provide controlled experiences of seriation.
• To give the child basic language important in Maths.
• Co-ordination, Balance, Concentration.

MONTESSORI RED RODS MATERIALS:

• 10 Red Wooden Rods all the same thickness but varying in length from one decimeter to one meter.
• Each rod increases in length by the length of the smallest rod. The pieces then stand in the same relation to one another as the natural series of the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
• Work mat.

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MONTESSORI RED RODS CONTROL OF ERROR:

• The rods will not be in a stair formation and the child may feel the irregularity.
• The child may see the irregular pattern.
• The smallest rod fits into each successive step.

AGE:

2 ½ years approx.

MONTESSORI RED RODS PRESENTATION 1:

1. Individual exercise done on a floor mat.
2. Place a floor mat on the working space.
3. Show the child how to carry each rod to the mat one by one by holding each rod at the top with one hand and at the bottom with the other. This will give the child a muscular impression of length.He should hold the rods upright so that he does not bump into other children.The rods are randomly placed on the mat.
4. Show the child how to build the rods starting with the shortest rod. Align the rod with the edge of the mat. Using your middle and index finger lightly trace along the entire length of the rod.
5. Find the next longest rod. Bring it into position next to and above the previous rod and trace along its length again. Proceed with all the rods in this way until the stair is entirely built.
6. Pause and admire the stair and then mix up the rods and invite the child to try.
7. Should you see the child struggling, mix the rods up but align the mixed up rods along the edge of the mat.
8. Once the child has successfully built the stair, show him how to fit the shortest rod into each successive stair.

Should the child struggle with this exercise or for younger Children from Age 1 to 3 they can do:

1. The 4 or 5 smallest rods
2. The 5 largest rods
3. 5 successive rods from the middle
4. Use every other rod.