I made a manipulative (and aint I proud)

Posted by lapazfarm on July 14th, 2006 filed in Curriculum or Lack Thereof...

Please forgive me but I am a little proud of myself. It is no great feat, but I made my first Montessori-esque manipulative and I wanted to share.

The idea behind the shakers you find in Montessori catalogs (way overpriced IMHO) is you shake them (duh!) and try to find the matching pairs by only sound.

Well, I made a set of “shakers” out of film cannisters filled with various things. Best thing about them is cost= free! I used a set of twelve leftover film cannisters, a pair filled with each of the following: sand, lentils, three pony beads, dice, a small nail, and a marble. I checked to make sure they all made a fairly distinct sound when shaken. Put stickers on the bottom to label matching pairs (I used matching shapes to identify pairs) so JBug can self-correct.
I lined them up on a tray which was a red plastic lid to an old box I threw out, so the presentation is very nice. Certainly not as lovely as the smooth polished wooden ones in the catalog, but hello… FREE! Couldn’t be simpler and JBug can’t wait to use them!

And here they are turned over to show how they are self-correcting.

I like that self-correcting aspect about Montessori very much. Seems like it would really build self-confidence if the child is not constantly having to turn to Mom for approval.

Now with my first success under my belt, I am ready to start making more!

Anyone want to share some ideas???

12 Responses to “I made a manipulative (and aint I proud)”

Jo Says:
July 14th, 2006 at 3:45 pm
You are a genius!!! That is too cool!

Also, I must admit that everytime I visit your blog I look for something to “steal” and use with my own kids. The books you list, the sites, the activities, and the notebooks are such an inspiration. Thank you so much for always sharing them all.
lapazfarm Says:
July 14th, 2006 at 4:00 pm
Jo, You are too kind! Thanks for the encouragement.
Elizabeth Foss Says:
July 14th, 2006 at 4:17 pm
I went to the hardware store and collected laminate counter top samples to make the color tablets. I bought shakers and filled them with a cotton ball soaked in essential oils so that they could match smells much the same way you can match sounds. I didn’t key them to self-correct though. That’s a great idea!
Sara Says:
July 14th, 2006 at 4:55 pm
Wow, I’m impressed. That looks really nice - and a nice use of recycled materials as well.
Donna Marie Says:
July 14th, 2006 at 5:20 pm
how about a great big yaaay for you!! Nice job! I find the colored dots to be a great thing for my Montessori making basket. I keep a large basket on my shelf of misc. items to be used in materials making. colored dots are a cheap and easy way of making alll kinds of materials self-correcting!
Donna Marie Says:
July 14th, 2006 at 5:22 pm
ooh yes, one more thing..you can get film cannisters all the time at any film-processing store-for free! Just ask…and I love the tray you have put them in…they fit very well without crowding!
momof3feistykids Says:
July 14th, 2006 at 5:57 pm
These are AWESOME! I have ogled this kind of thing in catalogs, and I never thought of this.
Jennie C. Says:
July 14th, 2006 at 6:22 pm
Okay, here’s one all my kids have absolutely loved. Save an assortment of jars with screw on lids. It’s okay if they are glass, in my experience. The kids can match up the lids with the correct jars. Make sure none of them are interchangable, and it’s self correcting. You can also do a similar activity using different sized nuts and bolts, which are really cheap at the hardware store if you don’t have them already.
Carolyn Says:
July 14th, 2006 at 7:30 pm
AWESOME idea!
lapazfarm Says:
July 14th, 2006 at 7:42 pm
Woo hoo! I LOVE all of these ideas! I’m sure I have a bunch of jars and lids and nuts and bolts. The laminate counter top chips area great idea, too! I’m going to have to grab some of those!
Rebecca Says:
July 16th, 2006 at 12:06 am
Great job…now I’m off to find some old film cannisters!
Tracy Says:
July 23rd, 2006 at 10:42 pm
We recently played with a set like this at a children’s museum. In addition to different materials in the bottles, they had “less” and “more” for each material. So, one had a few grains of rice, another had a lot. One had one die, another had 3 or 4 or them. Instead of matching pairs, you matched to a picture of the contents. I think my mom and I had as much fun as my son did! Great idea to use film cannisters, I will have to try that!