Open-ended work with real materials18–21 months
Wooden Unit Blocks
Plain hardwood blocks in mathematically proportional sizes, unpainted, with no pictures or letters on them.
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- Offer it around
- 18–21 months
- Montessori principle
- Open-ended work with real materials
- What you may see
- Stacks four or more blocks
- Places blocks in a horizontal line
- Builds an enclosure or a bridge
Unit blocks are cut so that two of one size equal one of the next — halves, doubles, quarters, all consistent. A toddler stacking them is not being taught fractions, but they are handling a system in which the relationships hold true every time, and the hands learn that before the mind can articulate it. Blocks with letters and pictures printed on them cannot do this, because the print draws attention to the surface rather than the form.
At eighteen months the work is mostly vertical: stack, admire, demolish, repeat. Knocking the tower down is not destruction, it is the most interesting part — it is the only way to find out how the structure behaves. By two, the same blocks start being laid horizontally, enclosed into rough squares, and bridged. Each of those is a distinct construction idea arrived at independently.
The weight is the thing to insist on. Hardwood blocks have enough mass to stay where they are put, so a tower stands and a child gets to see their own success. Light pine blocks shift as the next one lands, which produces a lot of collapsed towers and a fairly quick loss of interest.
What to look for
- Hardwood with real weight to it
- Plain, unpainted, no printed letters or pictures
- Consistent proportional sizing
- A storage tray, so tidying up is part of the work
Not this
Alphabet blocks and printed picture blocks — the decoration works against what the material is for.
Safety
Keep towers below the child's own height and build on the floor rather than on a table.
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Also for 1–2 years
The rest of this stage
- Grading by sizeStacking RingsRings on a vertical dowel, graded largest to smallest — the first material that asks a child to order things rather than just place them.12–15 months
- Isolation of difficultySingle Shape PuzzleOne shape, one board, one knob. Four separate puzzles rather than one puzzle with four holes.12–15 months
- Practical lifePouring SetTwo small pitchers and a tray. The first true practical life work, and the one that starts a child serving themselves.12–15 months
- Care of the environmentChild-Size Broom and DustpanA working broom scaled to a toddler. Not a toy broom — one that actually sweeps.15–18 months
- Refinement of the auditory senseWooden Percussion SetReal instruments in miniature — bells, a wood block, maracas — that make a genuine tone when struck.15–18 months
- Two hands working togetherThreading BeadsLarge wooden beads and a stiff lace — the first work that genuinely requires both hands to do different jobs at once.15–18 months
- Isolation of difficultyDressing FramesA button, a zip and a snap, each mounted alone in its own frame so it can be practised away from the pressure of getting dressed.18–21 months
- Reality before abstractionNomenclature CardsCards showing one real, accurately depicted thing each — the Montessori answer to the cartoon flashcard.18–21 months
- Practical lifeFood Preparation SetA child-safe knife, a small board and a peeler — real tools for real food, which is what Montessori offers instead of a play kitchen.21–24 months
- Preparation of the handBeeswax Block CrayonsChunky beeswax blocks that need almost no pressure to leave a mark, and cannot be gripped in a fist.21–24 months
- The prepared environmentWeaning Table and ChairA table and chair at the child's own scale, low enough that they can sit down and get up entirely by themselves.21–24 months