I love the Montessori geometric solids at any time of year. Montessori geometric solids are beautiful sensorial materials and wonderful for the stereognostic sense (the process of feeling objects and recognizing them based on what is felt). This is a great time of year to place an extra focus on geometric solids with the coming of Easter and fun with ovoid-shaped Easter eggs!
Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links (at no cost to you).
Geometric solids aren’t an easy material to make and are generally purchased by both preschools and homeschools. There are some inexpensive versions available. You’ll find an interesting discussion about buying geometric solids at Homemade Homeschool.
Inexpensive Geometric Solids
Note: It’s best if the geometric solids are all one color. (The traditional geometric solids are all blue for isolation of difficulty so the child doesn’t confuse shape with color).
Amazon (geometric solids in blue or in natural wood color go well with Montessori philosophy)
Here’s a more thorough list of Montessori material suppliers along with comments from parents who purchased from various companies: Where to Buy Montessori Materials.
DIY Geometric Solids
There are tutorials for making at least some of the traditional geometric solids (cube, sphere, cone, cylinder, rectangular prism, triangular prism, ovoid, ellipsoid, triangular-based pyramid, and square-based pyramid) used in Montessori schools. Even if you’ve purchased geometric solids, following the DIY tutorials could be great extensions for children at more advanced levels.
Clay Geometric Solids from Adventures of a Rainbow Mama
Geometric Solids made of polystyrene from WeeWinkles
Paper Models of Polyhedra site
Paper 3-D Models and Cards (Photo from The Pinay Homeschooler)
3D Shapes from The Pinay Homeschooler
Play-Doh and Toothpick Cube (Photo from Rockabye Butterfly)
3D Shapes (made from Play-Doh and Toothpicks) from Rockabye Butterfly (blog is no longer available)
Geometric Solids Presentations and Extensions
Geometric Solids Matching (Photo from The Work Plan)
Geometric Solids from The Work Plan
Geometric Solids presentation and extensions from Montessori Primary Guide
“Teacher Discussion: Presenting Montessori Geometric Solids”
Geometric Solids – Sorting Cards from Montessori Print Shop
Geometric Solids Materials from Montessori Print Shop (available for purchase)
Geometric Solids Materials from Montessori for Everyone (available for purchase)
Geometric Solids Matching Cards from Our Montessori Story
Geometric Solids Extension (Photo from Chasing Cheerios)
Geometric Solids for Baby and Geometric Solids Extension (photo) from Chasing Cheerios
Montessori Sensorial Work: Geometric Solids (presentation) from My Montessori House
Matching Real-Life Objects to the Geometric Solids (Photo from Montessori MOMents) – blog no longer available
Matching Real-Life Objects to the Geometric Solids from Montessori MOMents – blog no longer available
Geometric Solid Sorting (Image from To the Lesson!)
New Life for our Geometric Solids – Thanks to Montessori Print Shop from To the Lesson!
Geometric Solids Objects (Photo from Inspired Montessori and Arts at Dundee Montessori)
Geometric Solids Objects from Inspired Montessori and Arts at Dundee Montessori
Geometric Solids Sorting (Photo from Mi Escuelita Montessori)
Geometric Solids and Geometric Solids with Photographs and Objects from Mi Escuelita Montessori
Geometric Solids with Mystery Bag from My Montessori Journey using Mystery Bag Tutorial from Montessori by Hand
Geometric Solids and Mystery Bags from Montessori Teachings
Geometric Solids Extension (for older children) from Jojoebi Designs
There are a number of geometric solids extensions (along with LOTS of other Montessori activities) in John Bowman’s Montessori at Home eBook (available for purchase very inexpensively as part of the Montessori at Home! eBook and Materials Bundle).
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Awesomeness! The photo you linked to is one of my favorite moments with this child. Thank you for linking up to us and for sharing.
My pleasure! And thanks for photographing and writing about your geometric solids experiences with your student. That is a great moment! 🙂
Perfect Timing! My daughter is totally obsessed with geometric solids right now, but ready for some extensions. I actually love the light blue geometric solids that are pictured, though know they are not the “traditional” color.
Thanks, Maureen! I’m glad to hear the timing is right! I love the light blue geometric solids, too. They’re all the same color, so it would be totally fine to have geometric solids that color! 🙂
Thanks for this post! We just started using the geometric solids last week and I am so excited to now have some extension ideas to use with them!
Thanks, Mieke! That sounds like fun … I’m glad there are such great extensions that you can easily put together now! 🙂
Thanks for posting this! I really like some of the extension activities. It’s nice to get an idea of what we have to look forward to!
Thanks for your comment, Eryn! Your son is at such a great age … and definitely with so much to look forward to in Montessori! 🙂
Love this post, I recently purchased these http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0034IX85O/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&tag=ourhomblo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0034IX85O to use with the light table!! Can’t wait to incorporate these other activities with it!
Thanks for your kind comment Jennifer! And thanks for including the link. Those would be awesome for a light table! 🙂
Wonderful post, Deb! Thanks for putting all of these ideas together – I always enjoy seeing how others incorporate the materials and extensions in their lessons. Thanks, too for featuring my photo! 🙂
My pleasure, Sasha – and thanks for your kind words! Isn’t blogging great?! I love seeing how others are using the materials and extensions, too! 🙂
What an awesome list of resources and a wonderful link-up. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much for your kind comment, MissMOE! I’m always amazed at how many wonderful ideas and resources are available online now! I have lots of fun as a curator! 🙂
We have these and I never knew what to do with them! Thank you so much for the ideas – my children are almost too old for them, but I have a new niece that will definitely benefit from my newfound knowledge 🙂 Thank you so much for your informative post!
Thanks so much, Gidget! I’m glad your niece will be able to use them! 🙂
Great post! I’ve used the painted wooden geometric solids in the classroom, but it never even crossed my mind that you could make your own! I’ll be bookmarking this page for the future when my daughter is older! Thanks!
Thanks, MM! I had never thought of it before, either. It’s amazing what can be found online now … I think it would be a fun project! 🙂
Thank you for sharing this round up with Afterschool – so many ideas in one place!
Thanks, Natalie! I probably have way too much fun finding all the ideas online! Thanks for hosting Afterschool … lots of great ideas always! 🙂
“Note: It’s best if the geometric solids are all one color. (The traditional geometric solids are all blue for isolation of difficulty so the child doesn’t confuse shape with color).”
I have a nephew who has puzzle shapes that have different colors. I think that’s why he can’t really distinguish colors. He’s focused more on the shapes. I learned something from this one. Thanks.
Thanks for your comment, Val! I love the Montessori principle of isolation of difficulty. It really does make it easier for children to learn new concepts. 🙂
What a wonderful way to explore shapes!
Thanks, JDaniel4’s Mom! I always loved the geometric solids, especially with a mystery bag or a blindfold. 🙂
Great school/learning tools. Are those made of wood? I often see those but in plastic in shops but I prefer the natural and non toxic materials for kids.
Thanks for your comment! The traditional Montessori geometric solids are made of wood, although I’ve seen plastic ones and unpainted wood geometric solids in various places. Typically only the Montessori suppliers sell the ovoid, though. 🙂
Learning Resources makes a nice natural wooden set. I purchased the set of 12 for $15.99 at a local teacher supply store, and it is only lacking the ovoid and ellipsoid shapes–guessing the larger set has them all. Still, way cheaper than anything else I have seen online!
We are classical homeschoolers and I’m looking to incorporate some of the Montessori materials for my 4-year-old bright but squirrelly boy. I found the Learning Resources Set mentioned above and wondered – will my son be missing out on something essential without the ovoid? Also, I noticed that the Montessori suppliers make the solids with the same size sides so that they can be matched to the two-dimensional shapes, whereas the Learning Resources set does not. Again…if I go the more frugal route, am I REALLY missing out on something crucial here?
Thank you! Love your site and all the work you put into making things easier for me to find!! 🙂