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Color Sorting

Sort and categorize different-colored objects.

Materials

  • crayons
  • small building blocks
  • paint chips
  • buttons
  • plastic bread tags
  • milk bottle caps
  • small toys and other colorful objects
  • objects that children collect outside: pebbles, leaves, twigs
  • paper bowls, clear plastic cups, plastic containers, shoe boxes and tops, plastic bags; to hold the sorted objects
  • construction paper, paper plates
  • glue and tape (for gluing/taping objects to paper so they can be displayed) 

Directions

Show children the objects and containers and model how to sort in different ways. Encourage exploration, offering children specific suggestions on days they need more guidance:

  • Crayons, buttons, paint chips: sort by single color; by shades, going from light to dark; by different light and dark colors (pinks, whites, yellows together, and browns and dark blues together); in patterns (blue shade, green shade, blue shade, etc., or light shade, dark shade, light shade).  
  • Building blocks: sort into containers; build something of a single color; build something with two alternating colors
  • Leaves, pebbles, or twigs: arrange these by color or pattern, then tape or glue to a paper plate