Mini vehicles are found in just about every room in our home. We also have construction paper. I am here for the two to collide for an epic activity we like to call, Drive and Park Color Sort. This simple color activity for kids will kick off playtime as we reinforce sorting and classifying. Grab the cars and set up Drive and Park Toddler Color Sort for your toddler and preschoolers today.
Why is color sorting such a big deal?
Color sorting can begin shortly after turning one and continue to develop over the years.
Sorting colors helps begin to introduce young learners to classifying and organizing items into categories. They begin to see relationships recognizing similarities and differences. We can even incorporate color sorting into imaginary play!
We can begin by color sorting just a few colors and eventually sort more objects around us by size, shape, and type.
Why this toddler activity is important
Drive and Park Color Sort will introduce important math discussions. Once your toddler or preschooler has sorted all of the cars into their matching color parking spot, begin to talk about how many are in each lot.
When toddlers grasp small objects such as these cars, they are also preparing thier hands for proper pencil grip! We can help strengthen fine motor muscles by playing simple indoor activities like this!
RELATED: Need a great gift for your favorite two and three-year-old? I put together this list of toddler toys to help.
Conversations about color sorting
We engage in higher-level concepts by asking open-ended questions that require more than a yes or no response.
- How many orange cars did you park?
- Which color has the most amount of cars?
- Which color has the least amount of cars?
- Are there any colored parking lots that have the same amount? Which ones?
- I see there aren’t any cars parked in purple. That means that you have zero purple cars! Can you tell me another color that has zero cars?
Older children may love playing this color sorting game, as we do here, using only color words.
Let’s set this up!
Setting this up took less than three minutes. You can even ask your child to collect about ten cars ahead of time to speed things up even further! We set this activity up as a Breakfast Invitation to start the day off with play. Learn more about what a Breakfast Invitation is here!
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White Paper Roll
This paper is a staple in our home. Place it on the table or a verticle surface. So many uses!
Washable Markers
Share these markers with your kids, or keep them for yourself. I am not one to judge; I like my own pack too.
Hot Wheel Set of 10
This starter pack is for kids who enjoy Hot Wheels and race car tracks.
Construction Paper
The funny thing about construction paper is that sometimes it leaves out purple! This pack includes purple.
Set up this color-sorting activity
- On the white paper, sketch out a REALLY simple road. You can get creative with your road’s looks, but I have noticed that a simple road will prompt play.
- Next, place the colored squares on either end of the road. I use a glue stick to secure the colored paper down for each lot.
- Finally, add cars to the left of the paper road. Invite your child to begin moving the car from left to right.
- Invite your child to classify each car into the matching color parking lot.
Color sorting can be played in so many ways! Be sure also to check out Movement Color Sorting, Rainbow Bear Sort, and Color Counting Hunt.
Drive and Park is a hit! When will you set up this color-sorting activity?
FAQ
Preschool should be a time to create and explore new ideas. We want our early learners to transport objects, discover color combinations, sort, classify, design, connect, and investigate new ideas. We can do this with hands-on preschool activities – NOT worksheets. Use these preschool activity cards with your child.
Creative learning ideas for preschoolers involve movement, the senses, and play. Preschoolers enjoy exploring their environments and repeating play patterns. Hands-on preschool activities include sensory play, letter/sound recognition, counting, art, outdoor exploring, simple science experiments, and more! I have everything organized in this list of 101 preschool learning activities.
18-month-olds enjoy balancing blocks, hearing new sounds, grasping objects of different sizes, stacking, filling, dumping, throwing, tossing, pretending and using puppets, moving around the environment, making choices in play, hiding objects, transporting toys, inserting objects into spaces of various sizes, climbing, push and pull toys with wheels, washing, touching new textures, reading books, listening to music, rotating objects like wheels on a toy, and swinging! Here is my entire list of activities for 18-month-olds.
