4 free Montessori bead stair worksheets
Free printable Montessori bead stair worksheets: count the coloured bead bars 1 to 9, colour them in the traditional colours, match bars to numerals and add two bars to 10. PDF download.
The bead stair is a set of nine bead bars, one for each number from 1 to 9, each in its own colour: red for 1, green for 2, pink for 3, yellow for 4, light blue for 5, purple for 6, white for 7, brown for 8 and dark blue for 9. Because the colour and the length both change with the number, a child soon recognises “six” as the purple bar without counting. These four worksheets use the exact colours of the material so they work alongside real beads or on their own.
What Students Will Practice
- Counting beads on a bar and writing the numeral
- Learning the bead stair colour for each number
- Matching a quantity to its symbol
- Adding two bars to make totals up to 10, the first step toward the addition snake game
- Seeing that a longer bar means a bigger number
The bead stair sits between the number rods and the golden beads in the Montessori sequence, usually around age 4 to 5, and it supports the kindergarten counting standards K.CC.B.4 and K.CC.B.5.
Bead stair addition to 10
Add two bead bars together; all totals are 10 or less. Free printable PDF.
Bead stair: match bar and number
Draw a line from each bead bar to its numeral. Free printable PDF.
Bead stair: colour the beads
Outline bead bars 1 to 9 to colour in the traditional bead stair colours. Free printable PDF.
Bead stair: count the beads
Nine coloured bead bars in mixed order; count and write the number. Free printable PDF.
How to Use These Worksheets
Print at 100% on A4 or US Letter paper. Coloured pencils in the nine bead colours are needed for sheet two.
- Sheet one: count the beads. Bars are in mixed order. Have your child touch each bead while counting, then write the number. Ask what colour the 5 bar is; by the end they should know without looking.
- Sheet two: colour the beads. The outline bars are in order from 1 to 9 with the colour name beside each. This is how the colour code is learned. Say the number and the colour together: “three, pink”.
- Sheet three: match. Draw a line from each bar to its numeral. This is quantity to symbol, the central idea of Montessori early maths.
- Sheet four: addition. Two bars side by side. Count all the beads and write the total. If you have real beads, lay the two bars end to end and find the single golden or coloured bar that matches the total.
- Use the colour chart. The bead colours chart on our Montessori worksheets page can sit beside the child while they work.
Common Mistakes to Watch For
- Colouring in any colour: Not a counting error, but the colour code is the point of the material. Gently point to the colour name on the sheet.
- Counting the same bead twice: Slide a finger along the bar and count each bead once, left to right.
- Guessing from length alone: Useful later, but at first insist on counting to confirm. Guessing 7 for the 8 bar is the common slip.
- Adding by restarting from one: Encourage counting on from the first bar: “four... five, six, seven”.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the Montessori bead stair colours?
1 red, 2 green, 3 pink, 4 yellow, 5 light blue, 6 purple (sometimes called lavender or violet), 7 white, 8 brown, 9 dark blue. Ten is golden. The same colours are used in the teen boards, bead chains and the snake game.
What age is the bead stair for?
Usually 4 to 5, after the number rods and sandpaper numerals and before or alongside the golden beads. Children who can count to 10 and recognise the numerals are ready.
Do I need real bead bars?
They help, and a set is inexpensive, but the worksheets are designed to work on their own. Coloured pipe cleaners with pony beads make a good homemade bead stair.
What comes after the bead stair?
The golden beads for place value, and the addition snake game, which uses the coloured bars to make tens. Our golden beads worksheets are the next step.
More Montessori Maths
See all the sets on the free Montessori worksheets page. The bead stair follows the number rods worksheets and leads into the golden beads place value worksheets and golden beads counting worksheets. For the same quantities in a standard format, try the ten frame worksheets.
