Long Red Rods

Long Red Rods

Barres rouges de longeur

The Long Red Rods consist of a series of ten graduated rods all with the same cross-section with lengths ranging from 10cm to 1m. This classic Montessori piece has been precision made to an excellent quality.

The Long Rods are used to develop visual discrimination of size in one dimension, whilst the others remain constant, and to develop co-ordination and motor control. They offer an early pre-maths experience of comparison and seriation, and the opportunity to use vocabulary of length. The Long Rods prepare the child for work with the Number Rods.

The stair is built with the rods placed next to one another. A child can be shown how the shortest rod is exactly the same as the difference between each adjacent pair of rods. Later a child can explore making a spiral with the rods.

ELG: Shape, space and measures: children use everyday language to talk about size, weight, capacity, position, distance, time and money to compare quantities and objects and to solve problems. They recognise, create and describe patterns. They explore characteristics of everyday objects and shapes and use mathematical language to describe them.