Make Your Own Montessori Constructive Triangles

The Constructive Triangles are used in early work for a sensorial hands on experience building geometric plane figures. Later the language for the figures is introduced along side further exploration of equivalence and area of plane figures.

This material is expensive, so we opted to try and produce  at home!




My husband made boxes for sets 3 - Triangular Box, 4 - Large Hexagonal Box, 5 - Small Hexagonal Box. 
The two are rectangular boxes were found at the dollar store. 

They are at this point taped till the wood glue dries, and then the rest of the pieces will be transferred from the other boxes shown here.
The boxes are lovely to have but finicky to make. He left about 1cm clearance around the triangle and hexagons, and cut out the bottoms to start. For the hexagon he placed one side on and marked the angle for cutting, and the rest to follow were the same. He did the same for the triangle box.


 Small Hexagonal Box #5


 Large Hexagonal Box #4


Triangular Box # 3

This was not terribly hard, but tons of work.  I printed the triangles from a free site, and cut them  out to trace them onto the board.  
I keep anything that I think could possibly be reused, and we happened to have some Masonite from a dresser backing kicking around.  It was smooth on both sides which was ideal for the pieces to be slid around on the rug or table.

My husband cut while I traced the shapes onto the board. We worked on one box at a time, not to confuse things.  
I spayed them all in the correct (or as close to) colours.  I did not prime ours but if I were to do this again I would definitely prime to seal the board, as it absorbed the paint quickly and required several coats.

Then there was the business of getting the black lines on.  I found 1/4" black automotive pin striping from Canadian Tire (extremely durable, approx 6 or $7), and cut it to fit.  I love how these turned out, but you could always use a black sharpie.



A few links to check out for information regarding the boxes, here and here and here
 The printouts are from free from Livable Learning.

I would recommend that you mark your pieces from each box to help your child determine quickly which box they belong to should they combine the boxes.



We absolutely love the way this material turned out. However if I did not have the materials on hand or could fairly easily do this, I would most definitely not hesitate to print and laminate card stock to create it. 




Have you made these? If so we'd love to see them!



12 comments:

  1. We loved making these...lots of cutting...spray paint...they are still purely for sensorial use right now...so much fun!!

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  2. How wonderful that your husband helped you make materials, Cherine! These are fabulous, as usual! I featured your post and photo in my DIY Constructive Triangles post at http://livingmontessorinow.com/2012/10/29/montessori-monday-diy-constructive-triangles/

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    1. Thanks Deb!! He does such a great job and these were quite fun to make:))

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  3. Hi I saw your link posted on Living Montessori Now. That sure is serious work and yours sure do look awesome. Well we didn't DIY them but we definitely made a DIY Extension. Check it out here http://umamahlearningacademy.blogspot.ca/2012/10/islamic-art-with-constructive-triangles.html

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    1. Wow what an amazing post, and fantastic work!!! Thank you for sharing this work and your blog with me:))

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  4. These are incredible (as are all your DIY materials!). Are there specific measurements you found for the boxes and the pieces? As with all of your materials -- I also have a general question.... How do you find the time to actually focus on making all these items in the midst of caring for your children and family? It looks like you've worked at the material making quite steadily (since ...2011?). How long did it take you to actually complete making most all the needed materials for the Primary Level? I am a few years behind -- but am inspired :))

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    1. Wow thank you!! We have worked very hard on materials but honestly most of the work was done on various evenings or weekends. It was hard at times I certainly admit, but I did do everything with my husbands help. He did much of the construction and cutting. I mainly worked out dimensions, sanding, and painting. He is very handy so these triangles took him a couple of evenings to cut out while I stacked them according to the box they belonged. Then I painted them over another couple of evenings. He cut our Red and Numbered Rods at the same time - again in an evening and also the Pink Tower & Broad Stair (a little longer due to laminating lumber). It took a while to make the wooden materials, and print materials are ongoing but mostly again lots of late nights (in the beginning and periodically now). There is much I would have done differently. I am in the process of writing an ebook that goes much more in depth about our Montessori and home schooling experiences, materials and details how we have done everything in hope to answer all of these frequently asked questions. It has been a lot of work, but I hope it will be helpful. I will announce details about it soon:) I have not created a set of plans for the triangles and boxes as yet but will very soon. Thanks again for commenting! Your kindness is so greatly appreciated :)

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  5. Hello, I'm wondering where you got the cards to go with the boxes? I would love the link please :) thank you!

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  6. Yes would love to know where you got your cards as well! jane dot jasmine at gmail dot com

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  7. Hello, Beautiful work. I love the card too. i'm wondering too where you got the cards to go with the boxes?

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I greatly appreciate your friendly comments and feedback. I love to see what others are making, so please feel free to include a links and share your site with us!!! If you have any questions regarding any of the materials we have made...I'd love to help!!! Thank you for visiting us:)