The Stamp Game: bridging exercise

What is the Stamp Game?

The Stamp Game is a wonderful Montessori Math activity where the child learns how to match the concrete beads with the abstract stamps.

What materials do we need for the Stamp Game?

The Stamp Game is kept in a wooden box in the Math area of a Montessori classroom. The box has six segments, where each segment contains square inch stamps and skittles. The stamps are colour coded: the 1-unit stamps are green, the 10 stamps are blue, the 100 stamps are red and the 1000 stamps are green.

The small green skittle represents units, the blue tens, the red hundreds, and the large green skittle represents thousands. The directress also needs the golden bead presentation tray and a piece of felt for this activity.

How this activity is presented?

The directress begins by unpacking the golden beads onto the felt one by one. She then introduces the stamp game to the child, she tells him that each stamp has a corresponding, matching bead of the same number.

The directress shows the child one green unit stamp and tells him that one green unit stamp is the same as one unit bead. She then places the stamp below the golden unit bead, the child is now able to see that they are the same quantity.

She continues in the same manner with the 10’s, 100’s, and 1000’s. The directress consolidates the lesson by reinforcing the amounts (she can do a simple three-period lesson to reinforce the amounts) The directress can also do a matching exercise with the stamps and golden beads, by placing one unit bead on the piece of felt and asking the child to find the corresponding stamp.

The directress then assists the child in packing the work away.

Looking for more Montessori activities?

Here is a list of all the Montessori Maths activities including Early Maths, Introduction to the Decimal System, Seguin Boards, The Hundred Board, The Short Bead Stair, Bead Chains, The Snake Game, Group Operations, The Large Number Rods, Recording with the Small Number Rods, The Short Bead Stair, The Strip Boards, The Boards, The Stamp Game, The Abacus, The Dot Game, and Fractions. Just click on the page you want to learn about to go there.