Globe of Land and Water Sandpaper

The “Labd and Water” globe (also known as a sandpaper globe) is the first geography material that a child discovers in Montessori pedagogy.
Unlike the globe colored with continents, this instrument has one extremely clear purpose: the sensory isolation of the concept of “earth” (dry) from “water”. It does not yet name the continents and does not use multiple colors.

What does it look like and what is it made of?
The dry areas (Land): They are completely covered with a rough texture, made of fine sandpaper (glass paper), usually yellow or light cream.
The water areas (Oceans): They are completely smooth, shiny and painted in blue.
Structural design: It has small dimensions (around 16 cm in diameter), being adapted to the hands of 3-year-old children.
The globe is placed tilted on a wooden support, imitating the real axis of the Earth

What does the child learn through it?
This is a purely stereognostic and sensory material.
The child explores the globe by gently rotating it and touching it with the index and middle fingers (the fingers later used for writing).
Tactile differentiation: The child feels that our planet has two main elements: rough areas (dry) and smooth areas (water).
The round shape of the world: Understands on a physical, three-dimensional level that the Earth is a sphere suspended in space.
Global proportion: Visually and tactilely observes that there is much more smooth water on the globe than rough dry.

This product is a teaching material, not a toy. Not recommended for children under 3 years of age without supervised by an adult.