Presentation

  1. 1

    Lay out the material on one rug at one end of the room and a second rug at the other end with you.

  2. 2

    Place the largest piece on your rug.

  3. 3

    Ask the child to walk to the far rug and bring you the piece that comes next.

  4. 4

    Place the piece; if it does not follow, say nothing and wait for the child to see it.

  5. 5

    Continue until the material is graded on your rug.

  6. 6

    Reverse roles: the child sits at the rug and sends you or another child for pieces.

Extensions, easiest to hardest

  1. Ask for a specific piece by its quality: "Bring me the thinnest prism."
  2. Place the material in another room.
  3. Hold up one cylinder and ask the child to find its hole in a block across the room.
  4. Play in a group: each child brings one piece in turn.

Control of error

The graded series on the rug: a piece brought out of order leaves an uneven step.

Ready to move on when the child…

  • Brings the correct next piece from a distance on the first try
  • Uses dimension words to ask others for pieces
  • Completes the whole series from memory

Try “pink tower”, “tummy”, “diaper”, “grace and courtesy”, or “October”.