Prioritizing is an important skill that most of us never stop evaluating. If we prioritize well, we'll accomplish our tasks in the correct order, which often will lead to more successes, and as a result, happier lives. Please take a moment and think about the young learners that are most important to you. Yes, they may be just kindergarten students, but what they are currently learning may in fact become part of their daily life for years to come. Prioritizing is a subset of the wide variety of sequencing skills every human does well to master, and children can learn how to place things in the correct sequential order from a very young age.
Back in 2010 when we started developing educational activities for the iPad, we searched for the best sequencing activities we could find that would engage early learners to practice, practice, practice placing numbers and objects in a particular order to meet an objective. And as we published one activity after another, we would receive feedback about how children took to the concept of sequencing. The reports were both positive and surprising! One parent shared with us that their three year old child spent up to one hour to complete our Hundred Board activity, which tasked children to locate the numbers 1 to 100 and place them in the right order on the 10 x 10 board. Honestly this activity doesn't have the typical bells and whistles you often find in children's apps, but it's engaging because sequencing is such an important part of our comprehension skills, we are designed, even as children, to be drawn to it. An educator who works with children with autism shared with us that the simple activities of our Pink Tower app helped their children to grasp the concept of following a sequence of steps to complete a task. Children who can sequence well develop good common sense and have a strong foundation to develop future problem-solving skills.
Since that time we've published several more apps with sequencing activities and today we're happy to bring them all to you in one single app, Montessori Classroom. Here are some of the activities you’ll have with the current release (April 2023).
Pink Tower
This activity is a great way to provide children practice with following instructions by having to place the cubes in a specific order and pattern. It also provides them with a visual representation of numbers (in this case, the size of the cubes). The first step is generally to identify the largest cube and place it on the mat to start constructing the pattern. Then the child has to observe the pattern card and construct it IN SEQUENCE to complete it. Trying to place the cubes out of order, even if in the correct position, will not 'stick.' Therefore the child gets to really practice sequencing over and over, in a very visual and fun way. The Pink Tower activity contains 12 separate patterns to construct or deconstruct in the correct sequence.
Cards & Counters
Here is a great place for preschool children to follow an order of events to first practice the sequencing of numbers 1 - 10, and then follow up with learning the quantity each number represents. Some activities include placing simple number tiles in the correct order and others use long cards that show both the number and quantity (via colored dots) so as the child moves the cards around the screen to place them in order, they are visualizing the sequencing of the quantity as well. Afterwards the child must place the correct number of counters under each number. Cards and Counters contains over 10 sequencing activities.
Hundred Board
As the name suggests, this activity allows children to practice counting from 1 - 100. It's a fun activity with simple steps to follow. Don't be afraid to place this activity in front of very young children. Once they get the concept, they'll be hooked! The activity includes simplified versions where the next 10 numbers are highlighted to simplify the search for the next sequential number. The Hundred Board contains 8 sequencing activities.
Hundred Board 101 - 200
Take the hundred board to the next level and practice placing the number tiles sequentially onto the board, but this time, using the numbers 101 - 200. It's quite common for children to master the proper sequence of the numbers 1 - 100, but have much trouble with the numbers beyond. This activity will help them master counting beyond 100, which will set them on their way to counting to infinity! Hundred Board 101-200 contains 8 sequencing activities.
Skip Counting
This consists of simple sequencing activities for children to count by 2s, 3s, 4s, etc. Sequencing takes on a whole new level when you start skipping numbers! Skip Counting contains 10 sequencing activities.
Number Sequencing
The name says it all, here. Many times we come across children who can count perfectly from 1 to 100, but if you were to take an individual number and ask them, "What comes before 43?" they struggle to find the answer. So basically, they have memorized the entire sequence, but don't completely grasp the actual sequencing of each number. So in this activity we provide easy ways to practice What Comes Before?, What Comes After?, and What Goes In Between? Number Sequencing contains 10 sequencing activities.
We also have these available as printable activities for your little learners to practice filling out the answers on a sheet of paper.
Alphabetizing
Practicing your abc's is a sequencing activity, but similar to counting, it can be confusing for a child to identify what letter comes before the letter m, etc. So use this alphabet sequencing game to practice the alphabet over and over to really grasp the correct alphabetical order. Alphabetizing comes with 12 sequencing activities including lower case and upper case letters.
Parts of Plants, Animals, Dinosaurs and the Human Body
In these activities children will get to assemble a huge variety of puzzles to learn the parts that makeup the whole. Each one has an activity to assemble the puzzle by shape. Basically locate the part that matches the blinking shape one the whole body and assemble it, one part at a time. This helps children follow a sequence of events to complete the whole as it tests their knowledge of what makes up this particular plant or animal. Here are the puzzles included:
Plants: tree, leaf, flower, leaf types, flower types
Animals: horse, elephant, shark, crocodile, pelican, salamander, frog, turtle, fish, bird
Dinosaurs: styracosaurus, plesiosaurus, tyrannosaurus
Human Body: parts of the body, parts of the head
Planets of the Solar System
Practice placing the planets in the proper sequence from the sun with a simple activity designed for younger children.
Geography
Here we have activities for all the continents and more that contain similar puzzle activities to the ones mentioned above. Follow the instructed sequence of assembling the puzzle maps. Here are the puzzles included: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States of America. For some of the regions we have puzzles for flags and capitals as well.
Conclusion
When it comes to grasping sequencing, either a particular number sequence, alphabetical order, or just a sequence of events, what children need is lots of practice. With beautiful visual aids, easy to follow audio instructions, and a variety of activities, Montessori Classroom can really help children to enjoy the learning this important concept that will help them perform daily tasks, develop critical thinking and be more successful at anything they put their mind to. Thanks for taking a look at Montessori Classroom!