How To Use A Montessori Bead Cabinet

Much like the Pink Tower, the Montessori Bead Cabinet is a classic Montessori material, one that is essential in upper elementary classrooms. The Montessori Bead Cabinet allows children to learn linear counting. For older children, it reinforces abstract mathematical concepts. It is, therefore, a tool that is used across the elementary years. Because of this, it is a great tool to invest in as children can grow with it. The Montessori Bead Cabinet garners a lot of attention from both children and adults due to its intricacies. This article will offer a more in-depth look at how to use this tool in the Montessori classroom.

How to Use a Montessori Bead Cabinet

There are many different purposes of the Bead Cabinet. First and foremost, however, the main purpose of the Montessori Bead Cabinet is to provide children with an tangible experience as they learn to count linearly. Children can begin by counting the beads on the small chains. As they count out four beads, for example, they can then use the respective numerical counting arrow to identify the number of beads. For example: if they have counted four beads, they would place the arrow with ‘4’on it below and so on and so forth. Children can use the beads to form long chains to count all the way to 1000. This is a great opportunity for children to build confidence in themselves and in their abilities.

Once children have mastered linear counting, they can then use the Montessori Bead Cabinet to learn how to skip count either using the short chains or the long chains. Essentially, beads will be laid out on the table, and children will then label the group of beads with the aforementioned numerical counting arrows. A group of four beads would be labelled ‘4’ while another four beads would be labelled 8 and so on and so forth.

In addition to linear counting and skip counting, the Bead Cabinet can also be used to teach more advanced mathematical concepts, including:

• Multiples
• Squared Numbers: four 4s = 16
• Cubed Numbers: ten 100 squares = a thousand cube

Thinkamajigs offers high-quality, value-priced Montessori tools with certified non-toxic paints and finishes. We offer a wide selection of Montessori teaching materials, educational toys, games, and puzzles, which you can view in our catalog here. We ship anywhere in North America. Contact us for more information.