Red Rods are a sensorial material for comparing lengths. The rods in the set described here range from 10 to 100 centimeters and are arranged from shortest to longest.
Putting lengths in order
In the activity, the child carries the rods individually to a floor mat, places them out of sequence and then arranges them by length. Comparing neighboring rods makes their differences visible.
Checking the arrangement
The shortest rod can help check the sequence. When the rods are lined up at one end, placing the shortest rod at the other end of a rod should bring that combined length level with the next longer rod. A mismatch is a reason to look again at the arrangement.
