How to Make a Sorting Toy for Toddlers
Giving toddlers the opportunity to do some sorting accomplishes four objectives in one activity: it keeps the two-three year old set happily busy, it gives them some sense of control by making order of their world, it teaches children to differentiate objects, and it is an excellent activity for improving small motor skills.
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Things You'll Need
- A grocery store carton
- Packing tape
- Two empty Styrofoam egg cartons
- White glue
- Four small plastic containers with lids
- Assorted sorting materials
Instructions
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How to Make a Sorting Toy for Toddlers
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1
Cut and reshape, using packing tape, a grocery store carton so that it is approximately 11 inches square by 1 1/2 inches tall.
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2
Cut off the tops of the egg cartons. Glue the two bottoms next to each other in the box you have created.
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3
Cut leftover pieces of the grocery carton up to make several dividers. The egg cartons will be in their own section and there will be four little “nooks” for each of the plastic containers.
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4
Fill the containers with items for sorting. Here are some suggestions, but there are many other objects you might use: - pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters - assorted sizes of wooden beads - different kinds of dried beans - assorted colored paper clips Make sure that you don’t have more of any one item (for example: red paper clips) than will fit into any one egg carton section.
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5
Teach your child what to do with the sorting toy. Begin by using only one of the containers. There are several ways the toy can be used, including the following: One at a time, sort the paper clips by color, the beans by kind, the beads by size, and the coins by kind. After using the contents of one container, put the items away before opening another one. Use each “row” (there will be four lengthwise) for one kind of object. In other words, fill one row with beads, one with beans, one with coins, and one with paper clips. Put one bead (or other object) in one section, two in a second section, three in another section (and go on from there if more will fit in) to use the sorting toy into a counting activity.
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