MSU Extension Child & Family Development

Preschool Activity Pages

Matching, Counting, Sorting

Materials

• Ice cube tray, clean egg carton, small bowls or muffin tray
• Small items (buttons, beans, beads, pennies, cereal, game pieces)
• Markers or crayons
  Tape you can write on (masking or painter’s tape work well)

Area of School Readiness

Perceptual, Motor, and Physical Development: According to the Head Start Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center, perceptual, motor, and physical development includes motor development and health, safety and nutrition. This includes gross motor or large motor skills (like jumping, running, climbing) as well as fine motor or small muscle skills (like holding a fork or buttoning a coat). Health, safety, and nutrition includes skills for self-care (like brushing teeth), knowledge promoting healthy eating habits, and personal safety routines.

Cognition: According to the Head Start Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center cognition is your child’s ability to reason, use their memory, engage in problem solving and thinking skills that help children learn about and understand the world around them.

Purpose of the Activity

Fine Motor Skills: Your child will practice using the small muscles in their hands and fingers as they sort and count small items.

Mathematics Development:  Your child will practice using number names and counting in order, comparing the number of items in different groups and practice understanding and using patterns.

Instructions

1. Collect items
2. Place a small piece of tape on or in each section of your container (ice cube tray, egg carton, etc.).
3. Write a number on each piece of tape (#1, #2, … #10 or #12) or color in a small circle on a piece of tape or paper (red, blue, green…).
4. Demonstrate ways preschoolers can group objects that are alike:
   1. One item goes with the number 1, two items go with the number 2 …
   2. Red items go here; have a red spot colored on the tape, green items goes there; place a green spot colored on the tape) example: all red things go on the red dot, place all green things on the green dot
   3. Count how many items of a particular color) example: 5 red buttons, 4 blue buttons, 3 beans, 8 pieces of cereal.