DIY Spindle Boxes, Montessori Math At Home

These were fun to make, and quite easy.  I found the boxes at the dollar store, the dividers are actually paint sticks from a hardware store. We cut the sticks to size, sanded off the writing and glued them in with carpenters wood glue. You could also use a glue gun. 

Then added our vinyl numbers. We cut chopsticks down and sanded them to make the spindles. They are because they do not roll around.

These boxes are used early on to teach counting 0-9 Ava is loving these now at 3yrs.  There are many uses for these boxes. You can also load the box sections incorrectly with a few sticks,  and have your child find the missing number of sticks or correct them.

 If you wish you could also make a 10-20 box.  Some people have their children bundle the sticks with elastics or ties for fine motor skills development. 

You can also load the boxes blindfolded.

There are many ways to make the boxes and below, is a quick printed example.

Just laminate and place the sticks on the sheet.  You can also use containers from the dollar store and place number cards at the ends.

Couple of other simple ways to create the idea of Spindle Boxes.

Here we used the stripes to organize our spindles with handmade number cards. I do not have a zero card here, but it should always be included in your spindle box lessons.

These are boxes from the dollar store that link together (drawer organizers), and the number cards are  from our hand made Numbers and Counters box. Again make sure you add one for zero.

For a fantastic explanation of the Boxes and lessons for use check out the Montessori Primary guide.

Best of luck with your material making!

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