Knobless Cylinders
Materials:
4 boxes each with a set of 10 cylinders, which correspond to those in the cylinder blocks each set is a special color: red (corresponding to Block 1), yellow (Block 2), green (Block 3), and blue (Block 4)
Purposes:
To observe and to compare the different series of cylinders
To gain a degree of clarity about dimensions and their interplay
Age: 4 ½ and up
Preparation: This is the last of the sensorial exercises because it compares a series of qualities with each other. The child will also have worked with the Graded Geometric Figures
Presentation:
Invite the child for a lesson on the Knobless Cylinders, show them how to carry the box, return it to the shelf, and have them take it to the table. The yellow and green boxes will be used.
Open one box, and have the child remove cylinders to the right side of the table.
Start to build a gradation left to right. Place a few and invite the child to finish.
Open the other box and have the child help remove the cylinders to the right side of the table.
Build the new gradation in front of the first.
Stand and look at the cylinders from all sides.
Set the first front cylinder on the one behind it. Continue for a few and let the child finish.
Stand and look from all sides, from up high to table height.
Set them at random on the right.
Invite the child to design.
When they are done, clean up by placing the cylinders in the box largest to smallest.
**Over the next few days, encourage the child to explore other combinations of two boxes at a time.
Control of Error:
The child’s own judgment/visual discrimination of disharmony
Language: None
Following Exercises:
Working with Three Boxes at a Time: no presentation is necessary
Working with All Boxes at the Same Time
Memory Games: None
Pedagogical Notes:
This exercise is often misused because it is given too early. When this happens, the child tends to turn the material into building blocks. This is one of the last sensorial presentations because the child needs to have a good level of self-control.
Let the child build towers if it is something that they discover. Encourage them to build on a rug on top of one of the box lids. This will give stability and the rug will help lessen the damage when the cylinders fall.