DIY Montessori Stamp Game

Ah the stamp game, another of my favorite Montessori math materials! The stamp game material provides an important step to help children move from the concrete golden bead material, to the more abstract. It is used to help children practice all of the previous operations done with the golden beads, plus group long division. Here, actual quantities that were previously held in the hand as the beautiful golden beads (and often stacked high into towers to complete an operation), are now simplified into small squares of equal size, color coded for place value, and with the number symbol written on the surface.

I recently heard another Montessori guide state that the original stamp game got its name because Dr. Montessori used actual stamps! Practical life at its finest!

In my own classroom, before being able to purchase a manufactured stamp game with some generous grant funds, I made two DIY versons of the stamp game, which I will share with you here. My first attempt was to use materials I already had in my classroom, a bucket of random plastic chips donated to me by a retired teacher friend. (As a side note, they originated from his non-Montessori school curriculum no longer in use by the school. In public schools, when new curriculum is adopted, all old materials are thrown out. Teachers will often keep materials they know are still good and useable.) Although these worked great, I had a co-worker who was also interested in using the stamp game to help her students. This prompted me to make a printable version. Here is a video tutorial documenting my first stamp game.

CLICK HERE for the printable version of the Montessori stamp game, which also includes a color coded mat to keep the stamps organized, and color coded grid paper for recording problems in the four operations: addition, multiplicaiton, subtraction and division.

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