Cubes On A Vertical Dowel

Lucy is progressing nicely through her early Montessori materials. I decided to take out the vertical dowel with cubes and see if she was interested. I presented the lesson by carefully grasping each cube and slowly sliding them off the dowel. Before I placed the cubes back on I showed her the hole in the first cube. I proceeded to slide each one back on. I asked her if she wanted to try. She immediately took off all the cubes and showed me each one as she did. Lucy then attempted to put the cubes back on the dowel missing the first few times. She eventually managed to get one on and asked for help with the other two.

This type of material encourages your child to practice hand-eye coordination along with finger positioning and grasping.

If need be you can start with just one cube and as your child progresses add another cube. 

Do you already have one of these at home? You could easily modify this work by using 1-3 rings and add to it as your child progresses. I have both works on my shelf at home. Remember to begin with it's not about grading the rings. It's more about the concept of crossing the midline in which a child moves an object into place, starting from the beginning point, and then putting the object in its final spot.