Baric Tablets (presentation one)

What are Baric Tabelts?

Baric Tablets are a fascinating activity in a Montessori classroom. Baric tablets stay in a wooden box with three compartments, each compartment contains seven wooden tablets. Baric Tablets are used to stimulate the child’s tactile sense.

How is the first presentation with the Baric Tablets presented?

In this activity, the child learns how to distinguish different weights using the Baric Tablets. The child will be working with the light and heavy tablets in the first presentation. The directress asks the child to bring the wooden box forward to the table, this box contains two sets of light and heavy tablets. The directress sits opposite the child, and she asks him to hold out his hands, she places a light tablet in one hand and a heavy tablet in the other hand, saying ‘light and heavy’ as she does so.

She shows the child how to move his arms up and down feeling the different weights, then she places the tablets to one side and does the same thing with the second set of tablets. This time she places them in the child’s opposite hands. The child is asked to place the tablets on the correct pile to which they belong.

The directress asks the child to put on the blindfold or avert his eyes and have a try for himself. Children usually enjoy this activity very much.

What does the child learn by doing the first presentation with the Baric Tablets?

This activity extends the child’s concentration levels, it indirectly prepares the child for the lightness of touch and it develops the child’s discrimination of weight.

The second presentation is exactly the same as the first presentation. The only difference is that we use light and medium boxes.

The third presentation is presented in the same manner as presentation one and two. This one differs as we use the medium and heavy boxes.

Looking for more Montessori activities?

Here is the full list of the Montessori tasks, including Visual and Muscle Discrimination Sense activities, Tactile Sense activities, Chromatic Sense activities, Auditory Sense activities, Thermic Sense activities, Gustatory Sense activities, Baric Sense activities, Olfactory Sense activities, Stereognostic Sense activities, Geometry activities, and Algebra activities. Just click on the activity you want to learn about to go there.