Numbers & Shapes: Activity 3

Benefits for Your Child:

• Identifies similarities and differences
• Learns new vocabulary to describe objects
• Describes the reason for sorting

Children learn to look closely at objects and learn the vocabulary to describe them. They use their senses to explore the characteristics or attributes of objects. Children then use these attributes to sort objects into groups based on similarities or differences and to describe the reason for sorting. Children begin sorting by only one attribute such as color, size, or use. As children learn to describe their own sorting decisions, they realize that there are many right ways to solve a problem.

Kindergarten Connection

While your child may now be sorting by only one attribute, in kindergarten they will be sorting objects using multiple attributes. Preschoolers can sort dinosaurs by the length of their tails (long, short). In kindergarten they may sort dinosaurs by the length of their tails and their color (green long tails, green short tails, orange long tails, orange short tails).

Activity: Where Does It Go?

(Use this activity after a trip to the grocery store.)
After a trip to the grocery store, have your child help sort items by where they go: pantry, refrigerator, freezer, cupboards, drawers, bathroom, or other areas. Ask your child to explain why items were sorted into each group.

More Ideas:

• Sort laundry together.
• Put silverware away.
• Sort toys.
• Sort coins.

Tips:

• If your child is sorting items in a way that you do not understand, have him/her explain the reason (for example, “I put the dish soap in the bathroom because soap goes in the bathroom”).
• If sorting items by where they go is overwhelming, sort by food items or non-food items, or by containers such as boxes, cans, bottles, and bags.