Why Manipulatives?
“Children must master the language of things before they master the language of words.”
—Friedrich Froebel
Guidecraft Beehive Lace[/caption]
Manipulatives were first introduced into children’s educational curriculum in 1837 by Friedrich Froebel, the father of Kindergarten. Froebel developed a variety of maneuverable objects, which he called Froebel Gifts, to aid his students in recognizing patterns and geometric forms.
Long before Froebel, people had been using physical objects to count and solve simple mathematics. It was only in the 1800s, with his help, that the modern day manipulatives were designed as concrete, maneuverable objects that were created with the specific intention of teaching mathematical concepts as well as encouraging sensory exploration. Blocks, geometric shapes, and textures are often present in traditional and present day manipulatives.
Many basic mathematical concepts such as sorting, counting, distinguishing patterns, and understanding geometry and operations are taught using manipulatives. It is widely accepted that having manipulatives as a teaching aid allows for more grounded and integrated lessons across various learning levels. They allow struggling students to better understand concepts but also provide alternative activities for students who grasp lessons easily. A student who may not retain concepts through lecture can often learn the same concept through the physical aspect of manipulatives.
Manipulative toys are also ideal for children with special needs or for reinforcing lessons at home for children best suited towards hands-on or visual learning. Introducing manipulative play allows the exploration of self-discovery for individual play or teamwork activities for group collaboration.
This year, we are happy to introduce new products to our robust line of manipulatives. They include diverse toys that introduce sensory, abstract, and non-traditional learning experiences to stimulate development of children ages 2+. These manipulatives are easy for little hands to grasp and assist in developing essential cognitive skills including fine motor skills, tactile exploration, sequencing, hand-eye coordination, as well as visualization and processing. Encourage sensory and mathematical learning that promote multiple benefits such as: verbalizing mathematical concepts, presentation skills, storytelling, expression of thought process, teamwork and collaboration. See our newest manipulatives products below:
Geo Shape Lacing is a colorful, geometric new look for a classic lacing activity toy. Set includes 3 over-sized geometric lacing boards and multi-colored laces. Children can experiment with color, patterns, letters, and pictures within the frames.
The Beehive Lacing set combines a classic lacing activity while inspiring dramatic play. Set includes a solid rubberwood beehive with holes for the three bees on multi-colored lacing strings to lace through it.
Guidecraft Count and Lace Fruit
This brightly colored Count and Lace activity toy provides 8 different types of fruits to lace. The set includes two long laces with caterpillar shaped wooden needles and beaded stoppers for secure threading. 10 activity cards are provided to assist teachers and for children to use for pattern matching.
Guidecraft Caterpillar Stacking
This adorable Caterpillar Stacking set exercises fine motor skills and fun-filled sensory exploration, along with sorting, matching and sequencing skills. This sweet manipulative toy is made up of rounded, chunky, tactile shapes that can stack to create a variety of colorful caterpillar families.
The sturdy wooden Sorting Tree is a perfect way to teach color and shape-matching while reinforcing fine motor skills. Each set supplies 6 colorful screws in two different sizes that can be matched by size and color and screwed into corresponding holes in the wooden tree-like base.
Sources: www.hand2mind.com
