Preschool sorting activities for your pre-K and preschool math centers! WOW! This Sorting pack has 14 hands-on sorting activities, so every child gets excited to learn about sorting with a wide variety of engaging activities you can use all year long.

Children sort by color, shape, size, number and beginning sound, then use their sorting skills to explore the world around them with habitat, living and not living, plant needs, healthy food, clothing and community helper sorts. Every activity comes with a picture-supported student instruction page, so little learners can see what to do and get started with less help from you.

With this preschool sorting pack, you get

• 14 sorting activities in one pack
• Color sorts with red, yellow, blue, green, purple and orange
• Count and sort mats for numbers 1-10
• Shape sorts with picture buttons, real-life objects and 8 different 2D shapes
• A picture-supported student instruction page for every activity

Print, laminate and your sorting centers are ready for the whole year!

What's Included

• 14 sorting activities, each with a picture-supported student instruction page:
  • Winter/Summer Clothing Sort with picture-prompt mats, blank mats and clothing cards
  • 2 Color Spin & Sorts: spin, find the cookie of that color and place it on the matching cookie jar (a red, yellow and blue set and a purple, green and orange set)
  • Community Helper Sort: sort tool and vehicle cards onto community helper mats
  • Button Shape Sort: sort picture buttons in circle, square, triangle and diamond shapes onto 4 shape jar mats
  • Beginning Sound Sort: place cookie picture cards under the letter with the same beginning sound (alphabet and beginning sound cards, 9 pages)
  • Count and Sort Mats for numbers 1-10 ("I can show the number 3 ways," write the number and the number word) with number cards
  • 2 Color Sorting Mats: "I Can Sort My Colors" Set 1 (red, yellow and blue) and Set 2 (green, purple and orange)
  • Water/Land Habitat Sort: animal cards and habitat mats
  • 2D Real Life Shape Sort: sort real-life object pictures onto 2D shape mats
  • Big/Small Size Sort
  • Living/Not Living Sort
  • Plants Need/Plants Do Not Need Sort
  • Junk Food/Healthy Food Sort
  • 2D Shape Sort: circle, square, triangle, rectangle, rhombus, trapezoid, oval and octagon
• 108 pages in color

Why Teachers Love It

• A year of sorting in one pack: Use these 14 sorting activities all year long, whatever your current theme.
• Picture-supported directions: Every activity has a student instruction page with pictures, so children can work more independently in centers.
• So many ways to sort: Children sort by color, shape, size, number, beginning sound and category, which keeps the practice fresh.
• Math that connects to science: Habitat, living and not living and plant needs sorts let children use math skills to learn about the world.
• Math and literacy together: The beginning sound sort adds letter and sound practice to your math centers.
• Hands-on and easy to reuse: Laminate the mats and cards once and pull them out again and again.

Skills Students Practice

Primary Academic Skills

• Sorting and classifying: Children group pictures by color, shape, size and category.
• Color recognition: Spin and sort games and color sorting mats help children match and name red, yellow, blue, green, purple and orange.
• Shape recognition: Children sort picture buttons, real-life objects and 8 different 2D shapes, from circles and squares to rhombuses, trapezoids and octagons.
• Size comparison: Children decide whether each picture is big or small.
• Counting and number recognition: Count and sort mats help children connect the numbers 1-10 with quantities, written numerals and number words.
• Beginning sounds: Children match pictures to the letter that starts each picture's name.
• Early science thinking: Children sort land and water animals, living and not living things and what plants need to grow.
• Vocabulary: Naming clothing, foods, community helper tools and vehicles and animals 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 that fit your current focus. Print the mats, cards and student instruction pages, laminate for durability and cut apart the cards.

Step 2: Model one sort with the class or a small group. Walk through the picture-supported instruction page, sort a few cards together and talk about why each one belongs in its group.

Step 3: Set the activities out in math centers or small groups with their instruction pages. Rotate in new sorts throughout the year 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
• Begin with the big/small size sort, which has just two groups

For On-Level Practice

• Use the activities as written in math centers
• Play the color spin and sort games with a partner
• Match number cards to the count and sort mats for 1-10
• Ask children to explain why each card belongs in its group

For an Extra Challenge

• Try the living/not living and plants need/do not need sorts
• Use the full 2D shape sort with all 8 shapes, including the rhombus, trapezoid and octagon
• Write the number and the number word on the count and sort mats
• Have children find real objects in the classroom that match each 2D shape

For Speech, OT, ELL or Special Education Support

• Use the picture cards for vocabulary practice with clothing, foods, animals and community helpers
• Practice target sounds with the beginning sound sort
• Use a simple sentence frame such as "This is big" or "This goes in the water"
• Point to each step on the picture-supported instruction page as children work
• 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
• Science centers
• Small groups
• Independent work
• Partner games
• Special education classrooms
• Speech and ELL support
• Homeschool preschool
• Substitute plans

Standards

These preschool 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 Next Generation Science Standards, the TEKS and the Virginia SOL (Math 2023, English 2024, Science 2018):

Common Core State Standards

• CCSS K.MD.B.3: Classify objects into categories and count how many are in each.
• CCSS K.CC.A.3: Write numbers and represent a number of objects with a written numeral, as on the count and sort mats.
• 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 foods and clothing.
• 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 into groups and describe how the groups are alike and different.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.V.C.1: Name and describe common 2D shapes during the shape sorts.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.V.C.4: Recognize common shapes, regardless of orientation and size, such as real-life objects shaped like circles.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.V.A.5: Recognize numerals 1-10 on the count and sort mats and number cards.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.III.C.2: Recognize letter-sound correspondences while sorting pictures by beginning sound.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.VI.B.1: Describe and discuss the characteristics of living things during the living/not living and plant needs sorts.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.VI.B.3: Discuss how animals relate to their environments with the water/land habitat sort.

Texas TEKS

• TEKS Math K.8.A: Collect, sort and organize objects into two or three categories.
• TEKS Math K.2.B: Read, write and represent numbers with and without objects or pictures.
• TEKS Math K.6.A: Identify circles, triangles, rectangles and squares.
• TEKS Math K.6.E: Classify and sort a variety of 2D shapes regardless of orientation or size.
• TEKS ELAR K.2.B.i: Identify and match the common sounds that letters represent.
• TEKS Science K.12.A: Identify how plants depend on air, sunlight, water, nutrients in the soil and space to grow.

Virginia Early Learning and Development Standards

• Virginia ELDS CD3.4: Sort and classify pictures by color, shape, size and category.
• Virginia ELDS CD3.1: Count and recognize numbers and quantities 1-10 on the count and sort mats.
• 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 ELDS CD1.1: Pay attention to the natural world by sorting animals, plants and living things.

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.NS.2.a: Read, write and identify numerals, such as the numbers 1-10 on the count and sort mats.
• 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.
• VA SOL Science K.7.a: Recognize that living things need food, water, shelter, air and space.

Next Generation Science Standards

• NGSS K-LS1-1: Describe patterns of what plants and animals need to survive, such as the plants need/do not need sort.

Add the Sorting | Pre-K/Preschool Math Centers pack to your cart and have 14 hands-on sorting activities ready for your preschool math centers. Print, laminate and watch your little learners sort by color, shape, size, number and sound all year long!

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