Christmas sorting activities for your pre-K and preschool math centers! WOW! This Christmas Sorting pack has 10+ hands-on sorting activities with ornaments, cookies, trees, presents and gingerbread pictures, so every child gets excited to learn about sorting this holiday season.

Children spin and sort ornaments by color, match shape cards to Christmas cookies, sort presents by beginning sound and decide which holiday pictures are food and which are not. Student instruction pages come with the activities, so preschoolers can work on their own once they know the routine.

With this Christmas sorting pack, you get

• Color, shape, size and beginning sound sorting in one Christmas theme
• Spin and sort color games with a spinner and ornament cards
• Count and sort number mats with ten-frames and matching number cards
• A Food/Not Food sort that doubles as vocabulary practice
• Student instruction pages for independent learning

Print, laminate and your December math centers are ready!

What's Included

• 2 Color Spin & Sort Games: One for sorting red, blue and yellow; one for sorting purple, green and orange. Children spin the spinner, select a matching ornament and place it on the correct color on the mat.
• Shape Cookie Sort: Match the shape cards to the correct Christmas cookie shape. Shapes included: circle, square, rectangle, triangle, rhombus, octagon, trapezoid and oval.
• Beginning Sound Sort: Christmas tree letters and 2 matching beginning sound presents.
• Count and Sort Mats: Number mats and matching number cards. Use the included cards or have children draw their own ways to show the numbers.
• 2 Color Sorting Mats: One mat for red, blue and yellow; one mat for purple, orange and green.
• Christmas Tree Color Sort: Match the tree decorations and presents to the red, yellow and green Christmas trees.
• Big/Small Size Sort: Sorting mats and big/small sorting cards.
• Food/Not Food Sort: Learn about Christmas objects while sorting pictures into food and not food. The picture cards can also be used for vocabulary practice.
• 2D Shape Sort: Match the shape cards to the correct Christmas tree.
• Student instruction pages for independent learning
• Low-prep activities for easy planning

Why Teachers Love It

• Lots of sorting in one pack: Children sort by color, shape, size, beginning sound and food/not food, all with one cheerful Christmas theme.
• Low prep: Print, laminate and cut the cards and your centers are ready for the season.
• Builds independence: Student instruction pages show children what to do, so they can get started without waiting for an adult.
• Flexible counting practice: Use the number cards on the count and sort mats or have children draw their own ways to show each number.
• Math and literacy together: The beginning sound sort and Food/Not Food sort add letter and vocabulary practice to your math centers.

Skills Students Practice

Primary Academic Skills

• Sorting and classifying: Children group Christmas pictures by color, shape, size and category.
• Color recognition: Spin and sort games and color mats practice red, blue, yellow, purple, green and orange.
• Shape recognition: Children match circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, rhombuses, octagons, trapezoids and ovals.
• Size comparison: Children decide whether each picture is big or small.
• Counting and number recognition: Number mats with ten-frames help children connect numerals with quantities. A ten-frame is a simple grid of ten boxes used to show numbers.
• Beginning sounds: Children match presents to the Christmas tree letter that starts each picture's name.
• Vocabulary: Naming holiday pictures during the Food/Not Food sort builds new words.

Secondary Life & Learning Skills

• Following directions
• Taking turns
• Working independently
• Communicating choices
• Maintaining attention
• Using mathematical language

How to Use It

Step 1: Choose the sorting activities you want to use. Print the mats and cards, laminate for durability and cut apart the cards.

Step 2: Model one sort with the class or a small group. Show the student instruction page and sort a few cards together.

Step 3: Set the activities out in math centers or small groups. Rotate in new sorts through the season to keep the practice fresh.

Easy Differentiation

Preschoolers come to sorting with very different skills. These activities are easy to adjust for each child.

For Children Who Need More Support

• Start with a color sort before moving to shapes or beginning sounds
• Offer fewer cards and only two groups at a time
• Name each color, shape or picture together before sorting
• Use the first four cookie shapes (circle, square, rectangle and triangle) first

For On-Level Practice

• Use the activities as written in math centers
• Play the color spin and sort games with a partner
• Use the included number cards on the count and sort mats
• Ask children to explain why each card belongs in its group

For an Extra Challenge

• Add the rhombus, octagon, trapezoid and oval cookie shapes
• Have children draw their own ways to show each number on the count and sort mats
• Ask children to sort the same pictures a second way
• Count how many cards end up in each group and compare

For Speech, OT, ELL or Special Education Support

• Use the Food/Not Food picture cards for vocabulary practice
• Practice target sounds with the beginning sound presents
• Use a simple sentence frame such as "This is big" or "This is food"
• Let children point to or place the card when speaking is hard
• Give extra processing time and model each sort first

Perfect For

• Preschool and pre-K math centers
• Christmas and December themes
• Small groups
• Independent work
• Partner games
• Special education classrooms
• Speech and ELL support
• Homeschool preschool
• Substitute plans

Standards

These Christmas sorting activities support the 2022 Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines and Virginia's Early Learning and Development Standards (2021), and they build toward kindergarten skills in Common Core, the TEKS and the Virginia SOL (Math 2023, English 2024):

Common Core State Standards

• CCSS K.MD.B.3: Classify objects into categories and count how many are in each.
• CCSS K.G.A.2: Correctly name shapes regardless of their orientation or size.
• CCSS L.K.5.a: Sort common objects into categories, such as food and not food.
• CCSS RF.K.3.a: Connect consonants with their most common sounds.

Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines

• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.V.E.1: Sort objects that are the same and different, such as ornaments by color and pictures by size.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.V.C.1: Name and describe common 2D shapes during the cookie and tree shape sorts.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.V.C.4: Recognize common shapes, regardless of orientation and size.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.V.D.1: Compare the size of objects with the big/small size sort.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.V.A.5: Recognize numerals on the count and sort mats.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.III.C.2: Recognize letter-sound correspondences while sorting beginning sound presents.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.II.D.1: Use a wide variety of words to label and describe Christmas pictures.

Texas TEKS

• TEKS Math K.8.A: Collect, sort and organize objects into two or three categories.
• TEKS Math K.6.A: Identify circles, triangles, rectangles and squares.
• TEKS ELAR K.2.B.i: Identify and match the common sounds that letters represent.

Virginia Early Learning and Development Standards

• Virginia ELDS CD3.4: Sort and classify holiday pictures by color, shape and category.
• Virginia ELDS CD3.3: Build geometric thinking by matching shapes.
• Virginia ELDS CD3.5: Describe and compare objects by size.
• Virginia ELDS CLLD2.4: Learn how letters work by matching pictures to beginning letters.

Virginia SOL

• VA SOL Math K.PS.1.a: Sort and classify objects by one attribute, such as color or size.
• VA SOL Math K.MG.2: Identify and name circles, triangles, squares and rectangles regardless of their orientation.
• VA SOL English K.FFR.3.B: Identify common letter-sound correspondences.

Add the Christmas Sorting pack to your cart and have 10+ hands-on sorting activities ready for your preschool math centers. Print, laminate and watch your little learners sort by color, shape, size and sound all season long!

Download Details

Please note: This is a digital download that will be available to you directly after purchase. Nothing will be mailed to you.

You will receive a link to the download in three places

• On the "thank you" page after checkout
• In your email
• Login on the site here: https://lifeovercsstore.com/account