Sort It Out

© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.

As your toddler takes notice of how things around him are alike or different, encourage him to use his senses to sort objects into categories. Together you can:

• Do laundry and sort clothes by color
• Clean up toys into piles that are soft or hard or big or little
• Organize kitchen groceries by boxes and cans
• Sort big plates and little plates for dinner

Your toddler may enjoy sorting objects into containers (laundry baskets, toy bins, bags), or making piles, or lining or stacking things up. There are lots of other things around your home that your toddler can organize into groups, such as foods, crayons, or silverware.

• With your help, toddlers can find interesting objects outside such as rocks, leaves, or sticks.
• Many toddlers also like to make “families” of toy animals, trucks, rocks, or other small objects—with “grown-ups,” “children,” and “babies.”