Melissa & Doug Bead Sequencing Set

Bead Sequencing Set - 46 beads, 5 dowels, 10 patterns

Many OTs have a good set of wooden beads to stack and/or string. This Bead Sequencing Set is a quality set from Melissa & Doug. It comes in a sturdy wooden box and even has a slide-on plastic lid, something Melissa & Doug products often lack.

The beads are solid wood and brightly painted. They come in six different colors (green, blue, purple, red, yellow, orange) and six different shapes. If you are looking for an activity that will practice basic shapes, this may not be the one for you, as some of the shapes may be hard to describe verbally. There is a square, an octagon which I never identified as an octagon until I looked at the picture on the pattern card, a barrel shape with a groove through it, a rounded squat shape, a cylinder, and an oval. If you're just matching shape by sight it works out pretty good though. 

The five dowels fit into the five holes on the box so that you are stacking beads vertically. There are two grooves that runs the length of the box that the pattern cards will stand in. Insert a dowel, stand one of the pattern cards in the groove, in front of or next to the dowel, and start stacking. Each sequencing pattern is a mix of different shapes and colors. One pattern is shapes only, no color.

I have seen this set also that have dowels with a round bead glued to the end. I like that idea, but with this set you can stand the dowels in the box and you can't do that with the other set. This way you can hold the dowel and the pieces won't slide off as you add them.

Try this:

• Set a pattern card on the table horizontally and sequence that pattern. Either use a cord if you have one or just line them up on the tabletop.
• Skip the pattern cards. Start by sequencing by only one attribute on a single dowel. Try all of one shape (all squares but different colors) and/or all of one color (all green but different shapes)
• Use the shape only (no color) pattern card in different ways: 1) Let the individual choose the color and match the shape, 2) You call the color for each shape, 3) Study the beads, feel their shapes. Then put them in a bag and pull them out, one at a time without looking, to match the shapes.
• Stack beads on a dowel according to a pattern card. Place two or more pattern cards next to the dowel and ask the individual to choose the one that matches your stack of beads.
• Place 6 beads by the individual and ask them to make a pattern with them. For instance three yellows and three greens for a yellow/green/yellow/green pattern. Or place three squares of random colors and three ovals of different color. Can they figure out whether it is color or shape that is patterned?
• Ask the individual to hold the dowel in-hand and stack the beads on it for a two-handed activity. Keep the hand closed at the bottom so the beads don't slip off.
• Turn the box so that the dowels are closest to the individual, instead of the beads being the closest, and place the beads next to the person so the individual does not have to reach so far to stack.
• Skip the pattern cards. Set up five dowels. Place one bead on each dowel, each one a different shape. Ask the individual to stack the beads on each dowel that will match that shape.
• Skip the pattern cards. Make your own pattern using your choice of shapes and colors. Make a repeating pattern such as red/yellow/red/yellow or green/blue/orange/green/blue/orange, etc. Start the pattern on each dowel and see if the individual can complete it.
• Skip the pattern cards. Set up five dowels. Place one bead on each dowel, each one a different color. Ask the individual to stack the beads on each dowel that will match that color.
• Skip the pattern cards. Call out colors and shapes as the individual stacks them, such as red square, green oval, yellow circle.
• Work on visual discrimination, visual closure, figure ground, spatial relations, eye-hand coordination, visual form constancy, manual dexterity, visual memory, sequencing, grasping/reaching/releasing, executive functioning skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the box: 46 wooden blocks/beads, 5 dowels, 5 two-sided sequencing patterns (10 total patterns)

If you are interested in purchasing this item or just want more information, click on the image below.