In this activity your child will play a game to practice sorting objects into groups of things that are similar. The objects may share several similarities; however, you or your child can choose different ways to sort the objects.
Learning Area(s): Language and Communication; Math
MATERIALS
shoes from family members (select shoes that can be sorted by color, size, and type of shoe)
LET'S PLAY
Say to your child, “Let’s play a sorting game. We will take a look at these shoes and sort them by color. When things have the same color, we can put them together in a group.” Take turns selecting a shoe and placing it in a group of similar shoes. Do this until all of the shoes are sorted by color.
After you and your child have sorted by color, put all the shoes back into a big group. Then, you can decide on another way to sort all of the shoes. They can be sorted by size. Think this part out ahead of time, so you can tell your child something like, “Next, we will sort these items by size. Let’s group the items by large shoes and small shoes.”
Sometimes children struggle to change from one way of sorting to the other (for example, color to size). That’s okay. Gently remind them that the sorting rule has changed by saying “Oh! You just sorted by color. Remember we are sorting by size now. This is a small shoe, and it goes here. Now you try. What size is this shoe?” (Let the child respond.) “Right, so it goes here. Now you pick up a shoe and put it with the shoe pile by size that it belongs to.”
TIPS
- Make room on the floor for the groups of shoes that will be sorted.
- You can also sort by type of shoe, such as slippers, flip flops, sneakers, and boots.