Montessoir Knobless Cylinders
The Montessori Knobless Cylinders is a material that consists of 4 boxes of 10 colored cylinders. Each box has a lid that matches the color of the cylinders contained inside.
The purpose of the material is to help refine a child’s visual discrimination, specifically that of diameter and height. Some indirect aims would be developing their fine motor skill, specifically the pincer grip. It also help develop the skill of balance and coordination. These materials also provide the basic language in developing a child's math vocabulary.
Each set of cylinders varies in a systematic and orderly way in one or two dimensions; height and/or diameter.
- Red Cylinders – each cylinder decreases in diameter, height stays constant
- Yellow Cylinders – each cylinder decreases in both diameter and height
- Green Cylinders – each cylinder decreases in diameter and increases in height
- Blue Cylinders – each cylinder decreases in height, diameter stays constant
Montessori Knobbed Cylinders
Montessori Knobbed Cylinders were designed by Dr. Montessori, herself and it is typically one of the first sensorial materials children are introduced to in a Montessori program.
The reason this is a favorite of mine is that it is an activity my children can do on their own because the control of error is built into the material; that means the child cannot pair them incorrectly…it just isn’t possible!
This activity is the first of the sensorial materials that introduce the child to the characteristics and language of dimensions. Through their work with these cylinders, the child’s ability to discriminate visually becomes refined. This is a pre-math activity and a pre-writing activity, as the knobs on the cylinders help develop the fine motor movements needed for future writing.
