The Montessori pink tower is a lesson consisting of ten solid wooden
cubes painted a light pink. It is used to help develop coordination, set
a basis for the number system and increase awareness of dimension. The
set does not have to be painted pink, and if it is not, then it may be
known as the cubes lesson.
Place the cubes at random on the floor mat. The child can do this, carrying the cubes carefully
two or three at a time to the mat and arranging them in a random order.
You should be sitting side by side with the child so that the two of you
will see the lesson from the same perspective.
Build the tower. Start with the largest cube, and place the cubes carefully and concentrically on top of each other. You must take care to place the cubes carefully since you should not adjust the cubes lest the child think the adjusting is part of the lesson and mimic your movements. As you pick up the cubes, grasp them with the fingers and thumb on all four sides in order to build a muscular impression of dimension and demonstrate that it is possible to judge size by touch as well as sight. None of this should be verbalized according to most Montessori experts.
Take the tower down block by block. Knocking it over will cause a disruption and is disrespectful to classroom materials and classmates. Before you leave the child to work on his own, you must demonstrate the proper way to dismantle the tower.
Allow the child to build the tower alone. Many children will have started to participate and even direct you or pick up cubes themselves before you have completed the first tower, so they will be eager to try their hand on their own. Do not correct mistakes at this point, as the tower will not stand steady if the cubes are not placed in the proper order.
Take the tower down block by block. Knocking it over will cause a disruption and is disrespectful to classroom materials and classmates. Before you leave the child to work on his own, you must demonstrate the proper way to dismantle the tower.
Allow the child to build the tower alone. Many children will have started to participate and even direct you or pick up cubes themselves before you have completed the first tower, so they will be eager to try their hand on their own. Do not correct mistakes at this point, as the tower will not stand steady if the cubes are not placed in the proper order.
Encourage the child to work with the pink tower lesson on subsequent days. The lesson should be easily accessible, and the child should not be corrected or over-supervised. Only offer help if it is solicited or if the child is clearly struggling and very lost. Even then, some Montessori schools discourage instructors from intervening but recommend that you simply rework the lesson together at some other time.
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