BOHS Montessori Bead Chains & Squares

Materials

Plastic beads and arrows, and copper bars.

Why is this a great Christmas gift?

For children ages 4–6, this Christmas gift turns early math into hands-on discovery: they can arrange colorful bead chains and arrows to practice counting and skip counting. Folding each chain over its matching bead square helps them explore how the chain’s total relates to the square number. It’s a thoughtful holiday gift to place under the tree for a curious young learner.

Square Numbers

The player folds the bead chain and overlaps it on the bead square, which leads the player to learn that the square value is the total number of beads of the bead chains.

Package Content

Bead chains 1-10, bead squares 1-10, and arrows (two sets of arrows are included, one of which is a backup set.)

Skip Counting

The children learn to count in linear sequence by arranging the colored beads and arrows in meaningful ways and then progress to mastering skip counting.

Preparation for Multiplication

Understanding skip counting might be a useful first step toward understanding multiplication. For instance, from 0 to 10, we skipped counting by two. There are five "skips," which means that in order to get 10, we must skip counting by 2 five times. Alternatively, 2 x 5 = 10.