GAM Squares And Rectangles

It is a wooden tray with three square hollows. The child fits three coloured squares into them: one whole, one divided into halves, and one divided into quarters. Slotting each set into place shows how the same square can be built from two or four equal parts.

Placing a whole square beside one halved and one quartered lets the child see and feel that equal parts reassemble into the same whole. This hands-on work starts the gradual internalisation of the concept of fraction before the child meets fractions written as numbers.

The material stimulates hand-eye coordination, since each piece must be turned and seated accurately in its hollow. At the same time it introduces the mathematical concept of dividing one whole into equal parts, joining careful handling with early number sense.

It suits a child with good fine motor skills, sound visual and manual coordination, and control of the rotation of the wrist. With the handling secure, attention can rest on how the halves and quarters relate back to the whole square.

Yes. Both trays follow the same whole, halves and quarters idea in different outlines. Working with squares here and with the round pieces in the Circles inset at /products/gam-circles helps the child see that fractions behave the same way whatever the shape.

A square split into halves and quarters gives clean, equal pieces that fit exactly back into the outline. Rebuilding the full square from its parts makes it plain that two halves or four quarters equal one whole, anchoring the fraction idea in a simple, familiar shape.

Wipe the wooden tray and pieces with a dry or barely damp cloth and keep the set out of water and direct sun so each piece keeps matching its hollow. Store it flat on a shelf and return the squares to their places so none go missing.