Thursday, April 25, 2013

Montessori Beads

I love all things Montessori.  If you let me,
I will probably talk your ear off, discussing
 how amazing I think it is.  

The only problem I have with Montessori
is it is so, so expensive.

O is at an age where she is really into
counting and numbers.  I wanted her to
be able to do math using Montessori methods,
however the hubs and I were not ready to
part with hundreds of dollars for beads.

Hello, Pinterest.

I found an idea at Montessori Messy
and I sort of expanded on it.


Perler beads = cheap + variety of colors + not as labor intensive as stringing my own beads


This is what a true Montessori Bead set looks like.




 These are my perler bead version.
Yes, yes, yes.  I know, 
it is not an exact replica.
But those beads above cost way more than my version.
I also had plenty of beads to make the squares, too.

I am not going to lie, this was tedious business.
It took a very long time to sort the beads, and
line them all up.  However, I think it was worth it.
O was with her grandparents, and I had hours
upon hours to do nothing but sit and watch tv and
make bead squares and rods :)






What is the big deal with these beads you ask?
If you care to read up on them, here are a few sites.







1 comment:

Thanks for your comments!