The Pink Tower is the iconic Montessori material. Often called the ‘symbol of Montessori’, it is a welcoming sign in any Montessori environment, and a favourite with educators globally.
Part of the sensorial area, it is comprised of 10 pink wooden cubes, in 3 different dimensions. The smallest being 1cm cubed, and the largest being 10cm cubed. The cubes progressively get bigger in the algebraic series of the third power. This means the second cube equals 8 of the first (23), the third cube equals 27 of the first (33) and so on.
Purpose
Introduced into the Montessori environment when children are 2.5 – 3 years old, the Pink Tower has multiple purposes.
Firstly, the Pink Tower helps a child build a concept of size in three dimensions. This includes working on visual perception, and awareness of dimension, both leading to an understanding of size in the environment.
The Pink Tower also helps develop a child’s fine muscular coordination. The activity stemming from this material work on the perfection hand movements, and the coordination of movement.
Finally, the Pink Tower is a Montessori material which helps prepare children for abstract mathematical concepts. This includes preparation for spatial volume, and the cube root.
The Pink Tower is a perfect example of how Montessori materials require children to use multiple sense at once. They are created in such a way to compliment a child’s stage of development, where they use all their senses to learn.
Hadassah Hall 