Matching and Sorting

I made Matching and Sorting cards for my 2 year old. You can change the words to fit your needs. When we did a unit on the ocean, I made pictures of things you can find in the ocean. Again, I "laminated" the cards with packing tape. Then we made an ocean scene using the cards and correctly placed the items (seaweed on the bottom, crabs on the bottom, boat at the top, fish swimming, etc).



For Young Toddlers (12-18 months)

1. Have them find animals ("Can you find the dog?" "Where is the tiger?")


2. Locate animals by sounds. (Which animal says meow? Which animal says moo?)


3. Find fruit. (Where is the apple?)


4. If your child knows colors, ask them to locate pictures by color. (Point to the red fruit.)

For 2+:

1. Match pairs of items. Put in piles.


2. Sort (Put all farm animals together, zoo animals, ocean animals, insects, etc)


3. Match animals and their coverings (fur, feather,scales)

Older/more advanced:

1. Play Memory.
2. Use dry erase marker to write the beginning sound/letter, ending sound/letter, or try to spell the word. If you laminate with packing tape, it will wipe off. (You can use dry erase or Vis-a-vis markers).
3. Discuss adjectives and verbs, and try and think of as many as they can for each picture. Again, a great way to use the 5 senses (what would it smell like? feel like? sound like?)
4. Use the cards to make up a sentence. For example, ifthey have a bear and a fish: The fuzzy brown bear tries to capture the slippery fish for dinner.
5. More difficult sorting (mammals, reptiles, categories of food like meat, grains, and dairy, herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores, etc).