Winter Sets Basket, A Counting Activity

The Montessori Sets Basket is a numeration tool,  for sorting and counting the numbers 0-10.  It is one of my favorite math activities, because it is so enticing for children to look at beautiful things while sorting and counting.  It is always fun to change this basket with seasons or unit studies.  At our house, we have one for each season, as well as some fun collections of nature (shells, pressed flowers, rocks, etc.).

Before this activity, present Number Rods, Sandpaper Numerals, Spindle Boxes, Cards and Counters, and the Mystery Number.  Keeping math work sequential will help the child succeed.

Materials Needed:

• A collection of 55 objects, a set for each number.
• A set of number tags, paper or wood, for 0-10
• Basket or Box for the objects, and a smaller  container for the number tags

How to use:

• Sort the objects
• Label the object’s quantity with the number tags
• Organize the numbers from 0-10 at the top of the mat or work space
• Place the objects to their correct quantity

Jessie is a Primary Montessori Teacher and Mom to twin three year olds and a five year old. Jessie has a Montessori blog at The Education of Ours, and can be found on Twitter, @educationofours.