100 Golden Bead Units

100 Golden Bead Units are the loose single beads of the decimal material, the smallest quantity a child can hold and count. A child counts them out one by one onto a tray, and once ten have gathered they are carried back and traded for a single ten bar, which puts the whole idea of the decimal system into one gesture. They refill the unit dish for golden bead work, where one, ten, hundred and thousand stop being words and become things of different size and weight in the hand. Because the units are loose, a supply also covers the beads that quietly disappear from a busy shelf over a term. Keep them where exchange games and the first addition run daily, for children from three years.