Storage Box: Wooden Container for Number Shapes
Made by Nienhuis Montessori · shipped by Heutink International (Netherlands) About the maker
A wooden storage box for the hollow number shapes and the small pieces that travel with the number work. The open top lets the child carry the box to the mat, work, and return every piece to the one place it lives, without asking and without help. That fixed home is the quiet lesson: materials that always wait in the same box are materials a child can be responsible for. Natural wood and plywood, 12 x 12 x 10 cm. The number shapes themselves are sold separately.
“Education is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words but by experiences upon the environment.”
In Montessori education, the prepared environment is foundational to the child's development.
- Development of visual discrimination through organized material presentation
- Refinement of fine motor control through careful handling and replacing of materials
- Cultivation of order and sequence through systematic storage habits
- Enhancement of independence through accessible material management
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This storage box exemplifies the principle of order, which Montessori identified as a sensitive period in early childhood. The open-top design respects the child's need for independence and accessibility, allowing spontaneous repetition of work. The natural wood material provides sensorial feedback through texture, weight, and temperature, enriching the child's tactile discrimination. By housing hollow number shapes, this container bridges sensorial and mathematical experiences, supporting the child's journey from concrete to abstract thinking. The careful organization of materials demonstrates respect for the child's work and creates an external order that helps develop internal cognitive organization.
How to present it
Follow the Montessori method of presentation for optimal child development.
Place the box on a low shelf at the child's eye level. Arrange hollow number shapes inside in sequential order from left to right. Ensure the box is positioned with adequate space for the child to work comfortably on a mat nearby.
- 1
Invite the child to carry the box with two hands to a work mat
Model slow, deliberate movements to emphasize care and control - 2
Demonstrate removing one number shape at a time, examining it carefully
Use the three-finger grip to model proper pencil grasp preparation - 3
Trace around the hollow space with your index finger
Move slowly and precisely, preparing for later writing movements - 4
Return each shape to its place in the box before taking another
Emphasize the satisfaction of restoring order - 5
When finished, carry the box back to the shelf with both hands
Wait until the child has observed the complete cycle before inviting participation
Every Child Is a Little Creator
Heritage
Since 1929
In classrooms
Around the world
European brands
Nienhuis, GAM, Educo
AMI approved
To the association standard
Storage Box: Wooden Container for Number Shapes
