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Home » Montessori » Curriculum » Sensorial » Montessori Sensorial: Knobless Cylinders

Montessori Sensorial: Knobless Cylinders

This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure .

Montessori Sensorial gives order to a child’s environment. The materials isolate a specific quality and guide the child to better understand the world by “organizing” all that he is soaking up in his environment. I have written on Montessori Sensorial philosophy in the past. I hope you take the time to read up on Dr. Montessori’s thoughts. Below is a lesson on the Montessori Knobless Cylinders.

 

The Knobless Cylinders are the 5th material in the sequence following Knobbed Cylinders, the Pink Tower, the Broad Stair, and the Red Rods. The Knobless Cylinders further define and refine a child’s Visual Sense.

knobless cylinders

Knobless Cylinders Material

Montessori Knobless Cylinders come in four boxes differentiated by color. I purchased my Knobless Cylinders from Montessori Outlet. There are good deals on Amazon if you are looking to add this versatile material to your shelves. Inside each of the boxes are 10 cylinders varying by dimension as follows:

  • Red: varies in diameter
  • Yellow: varies in height & diameter (the widest cylinder is also the tallest)
  • Green: varies in height & diameter (opposite to yellow, so the widest cylinder is also the shortest)
  • Blue: varies in height only

Knobless Cylinder Lesson

knobless cylinder shelf
“These are the knobless cylinders; let’s do some work with the yellow box.”

knobless cylinders on work mat

Carry the box to the mat with hands on either side, thumbs on top, fingers under the box. Place the box in the upper left hand corner of the mat.

knobless cylinder grip

  • Remove the lid and place it to the right of the box.
  • Remove cylinders one at a time with a 3-finger-grip.
  • Place randomly on the mat with the largest near the smallest for contrast.

knobless cylinders presentation one

Say to the child: “I’m looking for the largest one.” Place the largest cylinder to the left.

  • Order the cylinders one by one, to the right, ending with the smallest.
  • Cylinders should just touch and may be aligned with the edge of the mat or centered with the preceding cylinder.
  • Admire and feel the line.

knobless cylinder presentation

  • Move the lid to the center of the mat. Build a tower on the lid beginning with the largest cylinder and ending with the smallest.
  • Get a bird’s eye view for centering during the process & once the tower is complete.
  • Take the tower down and array it randomly for the child to try.

knobless cylinders in box

Place the cylinders back into the box: “The largest one always goes in the box first.”

knobless cylinders extension

One of the greatest parts about the Knobless Cylinders are the variations and extensions with the materials. I wrote a post on Sensorial Variations & Extensions recently. Be sure to check it out.

Best,

Marnie

Tagged With: Sensorial, Shelf Work

About Marnie Craycroft

Marnie hails from Maine where she spent summers buried in sand and winters buried in snow. She is the daughter of a nearly four decade veteran of the public school systems. Teaching has always been a part of her life. She founded Carrots Are Orange in 2010.

Carrots Are Orange is a Montessori learning and living website for parents and teachers.

Marnie graduated from Wesleyan University in 1999 with a BA in Economics. She spent nearly a decade working in investment management. In 2006, she earned her MA in business from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business.

Marnie moved to the west coast in 1999 and currently lives in Boulder with her husband and three sons. She is Montessori trained. Her work has been featured on Apartment Therapy, Buzzfeed, PBS Kids, BabyCenter, the Melissa & Doug blog, Huffington Post, and WhattoExpect.com. Besides writing, passions include running (usually after her three sons), photography, and outdoor adventures.

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