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The Open School of Creative Arts

The Open School of Creative Arts
Click here to go to our new site full of creative art activities

Button Sorting


Buttons are brilliant! They come in all different shapes, sizes and colours, they have holes for threading, they can be stuck down on collages, they are functional too in their original use, and they are great for sorting - which is what we did! 






We took all our craft buttons...
... and tipped them into an old chocolate box
 (perfect for sorting activities)

Then Jake began sorting them without me even
 suggesting it















And that was that - a really simple activity full of learning and fun for toddlers and pre-schoolers. The key points of this activity are developing pre-math skills - shape and colour recognition, understanding differences and likeness, recognising numeric quantities, as well as encouraging logical thought - organisation and grouping. You dont need any special teaching equipment for sorting activities; you can use anything you have at home - toys, fruit, craft material, magazine pictures, etc and any type of trays, pots, bowls work really well. For a great explanation on why sorting activities are important have a look at this article from Peaceful Parenting. 

15 comments:

  1. Unknown24 May 2012 at 17:44

    What a great idea to use a candy tray as a sorting tool! I pinned this to my math play board.

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  2. The Iowa Farmer's Wife24 May 2012 at 21:58

    Love that he sorted them on his own! love those little buttons and great idea on the candy bin! :)

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  3. tricia25 May 2012 at 05:29

    I've only recently discovered the joy of crafting with buttons- We need to use them for activities like this, too!

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  4. The Monko27 May 2012 at 17:44

    love the use of a chocolate box - gives me an excuse to buy chocolates - no seriously I am always left with this box that I don't want to throw away because I am sure that there is something to do with it but can't quite think what. Now I know.

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    Replies
    1. Kat27 May 2012 at 20:29

      I know, I hate throwing stuff like this away; i have so much 'junk' stored in our art cupboard that i need to find good uses for. I dont need excuses to buy chocolate though - its on my shopping list every week! ;)

      Delete
  5. Rachel @ The Philosophers Wife30 May 2012 at 13:11

    This is such a simple and yet great idea! I love it!

    Thank you for linking up!

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    Replies
    1. Kat30 May 2012 at 13:43

      Thanks Rachel :-) Thanks for hosting.

      Delete
  6. Unknown30 May 2012 at 16:38

    My 2's love to sort! Thank you for sharing!

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    Replies
    1. Kat30 May 2012 at 22:04

      Its a natural desire, isn't it? Kids like order and organisation, Ive found anyway.

      Delete
    2. Kat30 May 2012 at 22:04

      Thanks for reading! :)

      Delete
  7. Learn with Play at Home31 May 2012 at 07:34

    Fun, colourful, lots of learning, simple.. an all round great activity :_)
    Thanks for linking to the kid's co-op. I've featured this on my roundup this week which will be up shortly. You're welcome to a featured button :)

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    Replies
    1. Kat31 May 2012 at 08:42

      Wow, thanks Debs thats so cool! :-) Will look out for it! :)

      Delete
  8. MaryAnne31 May 2012 at 20:20

    Great idea to use a chocolate box as a sorting tray!

    Thanks for sharing with Learning Laboratory at Mama Smiles =)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kat2 June 2012 at 09:41

      Thanks MaryAnne -love the learning laboratory, thanks for hosting it! :)

      Delete

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