Exploring Montessori’s Pink Tower: The Journey from Concrete to Abstract

Ask just about anyone what material comes to mind when they think of Montessori education, and most will say the Pink Tower. Predominately found in the early childhood environment, the Pink Tower is a beloved work for both child and teacher. As is often the case in Montessori, this seemingly simple tower of ten pink cubes is far more complex than it first seems. It encompasses Montessori’s philosophy of moving from a concrete material to abstract thought.

We might say that the younger children take in things sensorially.

—Maria Montessori
Citizen of the World, p. 37.

The Pink Tower: A Concrete Beginning

In the Montessori Infant/Toddler environment, young children are often introduced to a simplified version of the Pink Tower. This set typically consists of 3–5 cubes of varying sizes, all in the signature pink color. At this stage, the material is purely concrete. Toddlers explore the cubes through their senses — touching, stacking, and yes, sometimes even mouthing them. Through repeated experimental play, they begin to indirectly develop an unconscious understanding of size, weight, and spatial relationships.

As children move into the Early Childhood classroom, they encounter the full Pink Tower, consisting of ten cubes ranging in size from 1 cm³ to 10 cm³. This material offers a more complex concrete experience. Children not only stack the cubes but also engage in various sensorial activities that help them internalize concepts of dimension, sequence, and visual discrimination. Nomenclature is presented using Montessori’s three period lesson to introduce the concepts of large and small. Children sensorially explore these abstract terms using materials they can see and manipulate. By introducing the nomenclature along with the materials, challenging abstract terms become materialized and absorbed sensorially.

 

Passages to Abstraction

The journey from concrete to abstract with the Pink Tower can be understood through several passages:

• Sensorial Exploration: Children initially interact with the tower purely through their senses, building and stacking without specific guidance.
• Conscious Manipulation: As they gain more control, children build the tower with intention, focusing on the proper sequence of cubes.
• Comparative Work: Children compare the cubes, noticing differences in size and weight, appealing to the young child’s mathematical mind.
• Language Association: Children learn language related to size (large, larger, largest), connecting their concrete experiences with abstract vocabulary.
• Indirect Preparation for Mathematics: Through work with the Pink Tower, children unconsciously prepare for future mathematical concepts like the decimal system, cubing and cube root, and volume.

Extending to Elementary: Further Passages to Abstraction

Think the Pink Tower has no place in the Montessori elementary environment? You may need to think again. As children progress to Lower and Upper Elementary, they may work with the Pink Tower in increasingly abstract ways.

 

Lower Elementary

• Measurement and Calculation: Students can measure the dimensions of each cube.
• Pattern Recognition: Students can use the cubes of the Pink Tower along with the cubes of the Bead Cabinet material to explore patterns of cubed numbers (1, 4, 9, 16, 25, etc.).

Upper Elementary

• Algebraic and Geometric Thinking: Using the dimensions of each cube, students can calculate volumes, discover formulas, and recognize the relationship between a number cubed and volume.
• Geometric Progressions: Students can use the Pink Tower to explore concepts of geometric progressions and exponential growth.
• Interdisciplinary Connections: Students can explore how the concept of hierarchical systems in the Pink Tower relates to other areas like biology (taxonomic classification) or social studies (governmental structures).

The Passage to Abstraction

“I worked with this when I was three? I had no idea it was so complicated!” As a Montessori upper elementary teacher, I lived for those “A ha!” moments when my older students made the connection between the simple material they used in early childhood and the abstract math work they were currently doing. Having first been presented with a quiet, unassuming tower of blocks, over the years students move from physically manipulating the Pink Tower to working with its abstract representations. They no longer need the physical cubes to understand and apply the concepts they’ve learned. This is the essence of Montessori’s concrete-to-abstract approach, providing a solid, sensorial foundation that allows children to build increasingly complex and abstract understanding. 

The Pink Tower, like many Montessori materials, contains hidden secrets of advanced mathematical and scientific concepts. By allowing children to first explore these ideas sensorially and concretely, we provide them with a solid foundation for abstract thinking. This approach not only makes learning more engaging and comprehensible but also prepares children for higher-level thinking in all areas of study.

Interested in learning more about Montessori principles such as concrete to abstract understanding? Enroll in NAMC’s Montessori Diploma Programs Today!

NAMC’s Montessori Infant/Toddler Diploma Program 

NAMC’s Montessori Early Childhood Diploma Program 

NAMC’s Montessori Lower Elementary Diploma Program 

NAMC’s Montessori Upper Elementary Diploma Program

Michelle Zanavich — NAMC Tutor & Graduate