Parents, Educators, Grandparents and Caretakers… Looking to keep your little one busy while keeping them hands-on and thinking at the same time? Then sorts could be what you need! By being both educational and time consuming, they can make for great morning activities (AKA “Breakfast Invitation”), structured play, time-fillers and even clean-up activities!

Sorting is a wonderful way to understand how things fit together in this wild world we live in. Children are comparing and contrasting items without even realizing. “What makes these alike? What makes them different? Can you tell me why you put this here?” Simple questions such as these are setting your kiddo up for a critical skill in today’s education—explaining ones thinking.  It’s never too early to get those wheels turning…. So sort away!

Little Ones: Start simple with just a few objects (6 max) that can be sorted into two groups.  Soft toys and hard toys make for a great initial sort concept. Because these kiddos are just starting out their lives, modeling instruction is critical. It might look something like this…

Place all the items to be sorted into a pile. Pick up a big snuggly stuffed animal and talk out what you are doing—it sounds silly, but it is so important! You might say something like, “This is so soft! Feel how soft this elephant is. See? It is soft!” At the same time take your babe’s hand and have him or her feel it with you. After, place it in the “soft object” pile and explain that you are going to make a pile of soft things. Pick up another soft or hard item and talk through what you are doing. Don’t forget to keep it hands-on and have your little one feel the objects while you tell them how it feels. This builds language and exposes your child to the idea of grouping or categorizing like-items.

Toddlers and Preschoolers: These kiddos love to be busy and everything is more fun as a game. All the toys are on the floor? That’s OK! Turn cleaning up into a sort game! Tell your little one to put all the trucks here, the blocks there and the play food in that bin! Set a timer for added excitement. Some additional sort ideas at this age might include sorting by: colors, shapes, sizes, different textures, blocks vs, balls, land animals vs. ocean critters… the ideas are endless! Since toddlers and preschoolers have such a strong drive to be independent, they may want to dive right in. Although this is wonderful, still try to model what sorting looks like.  We usually sort into 3 or 4 categories at a time (shown above).

Kindergarten: Have a jar of buttons, sequins, or pompoms? Dump them out! After sorting them by one category such as size, sort the same items by a different category! Give your kiddo some additional literacy exposure by having him or her sort by uppercase vs. lowercase letters or letters vs. numbers. One of my most favorite ways to get wheels turning is to give this group a basket of items and have them analyze the items to figure out the category to sort by. Could they be sorted by shape, size, color? Maybe all 3! Let them tell you!

In the Classroom: This is a spelling practice go-to for many teachers! Obviously it changes based on the age and needs of the students, but ideas such as the same beginning sound or the same ending sound (word families) are great starting points! A trash vs. recycling sort can also be done in the beginning of the school year as you model which items go into each bin.