Toddlers love apple scoop and sort!

As my toddler begins to sort and classify by color, I need to remember he does not need to start by organizing the entire rainbow. He can begin with two colors and first explore apple scoop and sort.

Color sorting can be practiced by eliminating the number of colors and making the quality of the activity meaningful. Math activities for toddlers are best to be kept simple and hands-on for ultimate engagement.

Remember that time we sorted the apples?
That’s right! Some of the apples were red, and the others were green!
Next time we go to the store, let’s see if we can find any apples in another color.
Do you think we will find any?

Remember, what may sound ultra-simple for us adults, is pretty complicated for your toddler.

RELATED: Almost two, but not quite there? You will find lots of ideas for your one-year-old HERE.

My toddler is making color connections with everyday objects.

He knows that his brothers love apples.

He watched his older brother sort and glue apples here.

What my two-year-old is now thinking about is the differentiation between the red apple and the green apple.

Before this, he saw the apples but may not have made the connection that they were two different colors.

That is what sorting activities do! They help young minds acknowledge the characteristics of the everyday world.

RELATED: Toddlers can be a lot to keep up with. Use this list of 40+ toddler activities to help!

But color sorting isn’t the only thing going on in this math activity!

See how the apples are in a giant bowl of water?

This setup is because I also want to strengthen my two-year-old’s arms as he uses the spoon to scoop up the apples.

My two-year-old needs to:

Use hand-eye-coordination to scoop the apple
Use arm muscles to pick up the apple out of the water – this gross motor practice will help him with throwing, catching, and lifting down the road
Sort the apple by color

Keeping my toddler’s toys and activities at home simple are key to his exploration and making learning through play possible. We added this color scooping game to our even longer list of color sorting activities!

Setting up this apple color sorting activity didn’t take long!

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I have one boy that loves green apples, and the other loves red. So stocking up was already on our grocery list.

And get this! For once, I was even ahead of the game. Adding apples to water helped wash them for future snacks. – #itsthelittlethings

I took a quick look around my house and gathered my supplies:

I filled my large white bowl with water and placed the red and green apples inside.

I also used our LEGO baseplates as color sorting mats. You can also use construction paper or these felt squares!