Description

This activity was developed by Maria Montessori to stimulate the Child’s visual senses.  She manufactured the original colour box tablets, using vivid silk threads, wound around beech wood colour tablets.  This product; the Second Colour Box; does not use silk threads in their manufacturing process. The edges of the colour tablets are manufactured from Beech wood, which is the same as the box that stores them.

Three levels of colour boxes, rising in complexity

• colour box 1 – the primary box – has 6 colour tablets in the 3 primary colours
• colour box 2 – the secondary box – has 22 colour tablets in the primary (2 colour tablets of each of the 3 colours), secondary (2 colour tablets of each of the 3 colours), tertiary (2 colour tablets of each of the 3 colours), and neutral colours (2 colour tablets of each of the 2 colours).
• colour box 3 – the tertiary box – has 63 colour tablets made up from 9 colour ranges, with 7 graded shades of colour, in each range

Features of The Second Colour Box

• direct objective is to-
  • match the colour tablets
• indirectly, the Child-
  • refines their visual sense, and discriminate different colours
  • improves cognitive skills by matching colours
  • learns the names of the colours, and new words to describe them, thus broadening their vocabulary skills
• this activity is part of the Montessori early learner’s curriculum
• the teacher can develop many different extensions and activities using this product

Contents of The Second Colour Box

• 22 colour tablets in total (11 sets)
  • the colour tablets are identical to each other in shape, size and texture with wooden edges
  • primary colours (red, blue and yellow)
  • secondary colours (orange, green and purple)
  • tertiary colours (pink, brown and grey)
  • neutral colours (white and black)
• stored in a Beech wood box with a loose lid – 28cm x 10cm x 5cm / (11″ x 4″ x 2″)

Related Products

• The 3 year old child starts with this,  The First Colour Box, which contains the primary colours
• The Colour Paddles, are an extension to the second colour box, and illustrates how mixing two primary colours will produce a third colour
• Finally, The Third Colour Box introduces the Child to 9 main colour ranges, with 7 shades of each range, a total of 63 colours
• The Colour Resemblance Box, is a simplified version of graded colours

Further activities that enhance the various colour discrimination activities

• • Same Fruit – Different
  • Different Fruit – Same Colour
  • Same Vegetable – Different Colour
  • Different Vegetable – Same Colour

Further Reading and References

1. Material Spotlight: The Colour Box by Montessori Academy

2. Montessori Color Tablets by Montessori Kids Universe