For the first step to make an abacus, students will need to get 3 popsicles sticks that are laying parallel to one another. Students will need to use the ruler and a writing utensil to measure eight straight lines across on each stick. The lines need to be evenly spaced through out the popsicles stick. All lines must match up perfectly on each of the 3 sticks.
The second step to making the abacus is very important. The students will need to lay one of the eight skewers on each of the eight lines they drew. The Popsicle sticks should be arranged one at each end of the skewers and the third stick in the middle placed about 1 inch from the Popsicle stick on the left end of the skewers.
For the third step, the students needs to glue the eight skewers onto the Popsicle stick on the right end. The students will need to place 5 beads on each of the eight skewers. Next, they will need to glue the middle Popsicle stick onto the eight skewers. After this is complete, have the students place 2 more beads on the open end of the eight skewers. Finally, they need to glue the final Popsicle stick to the left end of the abacus.
After the glue has dried, have the students take the remaining 6 Popsicle sticks and put them in 3 groups of 2. The students need to glue 2 sticks (wide edges) together to form the three groups. After the glue has dried, they need to glue the 3 groups of sticks over the top of the skewers directly above the previous 3 Popsicle sticks already glued to the skewers. This is done to keep the beads sliding freely when the abacus is placed on the desk.
