The Addition Strip Board is a Mathematics Montessori material designed for children aged 3-6, crafted by Nienhuis Montessori to AMI standards.
The Addition Strip Board provides a concrete visual and tactile method for children to explore addition facts up to 18. Using color-coded blue and red wooden strips, children physically combine quantities on the numbered grid, discovering patterns in addition while developing their mathematical reasoning and memory of basic facts.
“Children display a universal love of mathematics, which is par excellence the science of precision, order, and intelligence.”— Maria MontessoriThe Discovery of the Child
“The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say, 'The children are now working as if I did not exist.'”
— Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind
The Addition Strip Board transforms abstract number relationships into tangible experiences through color-coded wooden strips that children physically manipulate on a numbered grid. This mathematical manipulative board addresses the young child's need to understand addition through movement and visual patterns, allowing them to build equations with blue and red strips while discovering mathematical relationships independently. The board's design with its precise grid up to 18 enables children to explore all possible addition combinations systematically, creating a sensorial foundation for memorizing addition facts. By physically placing strips end-to-end on the numbered grid, children internalize the concept that addition means combining quantities to create a new total. The Addition Strip Board's concrete approach honors the child's developmental stage where hands-on manipulation precedes abstract understanding, providing repeated opportunities to discover that 5+3 and 3+5 both equal 8 through direct experience with the colored wooden strips.
Each order includes everything needed for proper presentation and long-term use.
Follow the Montessori method of presentation for optimal child development.
Select a blue strip (first addend) and place it starting at 1 on the grid
Choose a red strip (second addend) and place it directly after the blue strip
Read where the red strip ends to find the sum
Record the equation on paper: blue number + red number = sum
Continue with different combinations, exploring patterns
Every material is carefully selected for durability, safety, and authentic Montessori experience.
Each wooden strip is carefully sized to represent its numerical value visually and tactilely, allowing children to physically experience the concept of quantity while manipulating smooth, durable pieces.
Each material supports multiple areas of child development simultaneously.
Systematic work with the strip board helps children discover and internalize all addition combinations that sum to 18 or less.
Children identify mathematical patterns such as commutative property and number bonds through hands-on exploration.
The grid layout with emphasis at 10 supports understanding of base-ten system and develops spatial number sense.
Placing strips accurately on the grid refines pincer grip and hand-eye coordination essential for later writing.
Designed for child-sized hands
Professional tips from AMI-trained guides to maximize the educational value of this material.
“Introduce after the child has worked extensively with the Number Rods and understands quantities 1-10”
Begin with combinations of 10 or less before expanding to sums up to 18
Create equation booklets for children to complete systematically with the board
Observe which facts children struggle with and offer targeted three-period lessons for these combinations
Everything you need to know about this material.
The Addition Strip Board is designed for children ages 3-6 years old, though it's most commonly introduced around age 4-5 when children have mastered one-to-one correspondence and can count to at least 10.
Children place blue and red wooden strips on a numbered grid to physically combine quantities. For example, to solve 5+3, they place a blue strip covering 1-5 and a red strip covering 6-8, visually seeing that together they reach 8.
The set includes a wooden board with numbered grid from 1-18, 9 blue wooden strips (representing numbers 1-9), 9 red wooden strips (also 1-9), and typically comes with a wooden storage box for organizing the strips.
Beyond basic addition facts, children discover commutative property (3+5=5+3), explore number bonds, recognize patterns in sums, and build a concrete foundation for memorizing addition tables up to 9+9.
Unlike abstract worksheets or flashcards, the Addition Strip Board provides hands-on manipulation where children physically see and feel quantities combining, making abstract addition concepts concrete and memorable through sensorial experience.
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