Color Box 1 — The Three Primary Colors

Before the rainbow comes the triad. Three primary colors, two of each — the simplest possible matching. The plain wooden ends keep the child's fingers off the color. A mismatched pair is obviously wrong.

• Framework: Montessori
• Unit: Sensorial
• Learning area: Chromatic Sense
• Level: Ages 3-4

Objectives

• Match pairs of red, yellow, and blue tablets
• Learn the names of the three primary colors
• Isolate color as a pure sensory impression
• Prepare for Color Box 2 and 3

Materials

• Small wooden box with six color tablets: two red, two yellow, two blue
• Work mat

Instructions

1. Bring the box to a table with a mat. 2. Open and remove all six tablets, hold by wooden ends. 3. Place one red, one yellow, one blue in a column on the left. 4. Scan the remaining three tablets. 5. Match each to its partner. 6. Verify by looking across each row. 7. Use a three-period lesson: 'This is red. This is yellow. This is blue.' 8. Test with Period 2 and Period 3 questions. 9. Return tablets to the box.

Educator tip

Color Box 1 is often the very first sensorial work. Keep lessons brief; the matching is the entire work.

Assessment

Note matching accuracy, correct tablet grip, and name retention across sessions.

More from Sensorial

• Musical Staff and Note Placement
• Geometric Cabinet — Triangles Drawer
• Geometric Cabinet — Rectangles Drawer
• Russian Nested Boxes — Stereognostic Exploration
• The Presentation Tray — Grace in the Work Cycle
• Geometric Solids — Matching to Plane Bases
• Sensorial Geography Puzzles — State or Country Maps
• Touch Boards — Graded Roughness Extension