Homemade Montessori - Cards and Counters

This is one of the simpler Montessori DIYs I've made. I made this about a year ago.  Like the Felt Moveable Alphabet, this was to supplement my daughter's lessons at school.

When I first encountered this Montessori manipulative, I remembered how we were first taught 'numbers and counting' in the traditional school I attended back in the day - learning mostly from textbooks and hardly working on anything concrete or tangible (which would have made me learn faster and more effectively). I have since appreciated how this material is tactile, that it not only helps children recognize numbers, their sequencing and their corresponding quantities but it also introduces "odd" and "even" numbers.

These are the Montessori numbers and counters we use at the preschool where I used to work.  Photo courtesy of absorbentminds.co.uk

I have been on the lookout for shops selling Montessori materials, keeping an eye out for the red 'numbers and counters,' but haven't encountered any so I decided to make my own.

These are the materials I sourced for this project:
1. Blank flash cards - a supermarket find.  You may also use index cards.
2. Green marker- to match the glass stones.
3. Green glass stones which have flat undersides - I found these in Divisoria.  (I saw some glass stones in SM but the undersides were not flat).  Other DIY moms have used bottle caps, acorns, pine cones and even Teddy Grahams!  So you can be creative! 
4. Plastic container for the glass stones.


I use the cards for practicing sequencing.

And the number cards and counters (glass stones) for learning corresponding number quantities.

For the cards, I just wrote the numbers on the cards and drew uneven circles to resemble the glass stones.

It is important to put the exact number of counters or in this case, glass stones for numbers 1 to 10 (55 pieces) to serve as a self-check or control of error.

At times, my daughter would rather count the glass stones without the cards which also makes for good counting practice so I don't mind.

Other times, the glass stones are used for "cooking" in the Homemade Toy Kitchen (along with beans and shells) or used as "treasure" so we are almost out on glass stones.  Haha!  Time to replenish.

If you want to learn more about using this material, this post is a step-by-step tutorial on how to best use it.  You may also check out  this post to see how Lisa Nolan, a Montessori mom, uses this material with her child.

Homemade Montessori - "Felt" Sandpaper Numbers

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My daughter has this new-found interest in writing letters and numbers.  Months ago, she would resist writing exercises and would only practice when she is in a good mood.

Lately, she has been writing during her spare time.  She would ask for a pencil and paper and keep at writing for a considerable amount of time.  More often than writing letters, she would choose to write numbers.

She writes with such concentration and enthusiasm, only pausing to ask "Mommy, what's next?" from time to time.  Otherwise, she tries to figure out what number comes next in the sequence by counting again from one.

I am so impressed by this development and I just watch her write and acknowledge her hard work and effort when she is done. 

I noticed though that she has been writing some numbers backwards so I thought it might be helpful to go back to the basics to practice her strokes.

She was so proud of this work!  She encircled each number and said, "Look, mommy!" with a huge smile on her face!

Sample work of exercises from summer class at her new school.

She worked with the Montessori sandpaper numbers in her previous school.  I love that it is a tactile learning tool to help children recognize and write numbers.  I have been wanting to  make a homemade version of the sandpaper numbers (and letters) but have been putting it off since I could not find the finer-grained sandpaper in hardware stores.  I figured maybe felt would be a good alternative so I tried it out.

To make the numbers, I cut them out of green felt and glue-gunned them unto old desk calendars.  I folded the desk calendars and glued the folded sides together to make the backing board of the numbers sturdy (a friend of mine used old DVD cases.  I love that she reused and re-purposed old DVD cases and that it makes for very durable backing board for sandpaper numbers).

This is what it looks like from the side.  They sort of open up near the folds but they are not bothersome to work with.

I recommend this Montessori material especially for children who are ready to learn their numbers.  The site Infomontessori or Montessori Primary Guide and this video will show you how to use this as an effective teaching tool.

These are all the numbers, top view!  May this project inspire you to make your own!