Children of all ages benefit from sorting. Whether young children are sorting two items into piles or an older child is sorting vocabulary by different characteristics, sorting is stimulating the brain. It is a great activity to develop an important skill.

Comparing, contrasting, and grouping while children are sorting positively impacts logical thinking skills and mathematical concepts. Here’s a huge collection of our favorite sorting activities. Just download, print, and sort.

Color Sorting Activities

You can encourage your busy toddler to sort anything by color. Things you have on hand at home are perfect such as:

blocks
pom poms
toys (cars, stuffed animals, play food)
clothes
stickers
pipe cleaners
dot stickers
crayons

Sort the items onto matching colored construction paper or onto paper plates with the color in the middle of each one.

Another great idea is to sort beads by color into cupcake liners. This is a fun way to develop fine motor skills.

For extra practice here are several free, printable color sorting activities:

Sorting Birds by Color from The Activity Mom
Color Sorting Mats from Kindergarten Worksheets and Games
Sorting Pictures from The Activity Mom
Bear Sorting Mats from Fairy Poppins
Cereal Sorting Mat from I Can Teach My Child
Dump Truck Color Sorting from Childcare Land
Sorting Flowers by Color from 123 Kids Fun
Color Sorting Mats from The Kindergarten Connection

Shape Sorting Activities

Sorting things by shape provides the extra challenge of identifying shapes and their characteristics. If you have a shape sorter at home, use it to talk about the different shapes and how they feel and look and the different attributes of each shape. Then use it as a sorting activity.

Here is a collection of free, printable shape sorting activities:

Shape Sorting Mats from ABCs to ACTs
Leaf Shape Sorting from Sea of Knowledge
Shape Blocks from Powerful Mothering
Sorting Cards by Shape by A Dab of Glue Will Do
Penguin Shape Sorting from Kindergarten Worksheets and Games
Fish Shape Sorting from In My World
Sorting Shapes from Powerful Mothering
3D Shape Sorting Flowers from You’ve Got This Math

Math Sorting Activities

Working with numbers that are represented in different ways is a challenge that is extremely beneficial for number sense and subitizing. These early math skills help develop a solid foundation.

Here’s a great collection of free, printable number cards that you can use for sorting:

Sorting Numbers from This Reading Mama
Number Sorting from Totschooling
More Number Sorting from Life Over Cs
Dog Themed Number Sorting from Sweet Sounds of Kindergarten
Another Number Sorting from The Curriculum Corner

Letter Sorting Activities

While children are experimenting with letter identification and phonics concepts, sorting helps them find patterns and categorize information. Sort with magnetic letters when your child is sorting letters for the first time.

Here are several free, printable sorting activities:

Capital and Lowercase Letters Sorting (Superhero Themed) from Letters of Literacy
Sorting letters, numbers, and words from The Kindergarten Connection
Beginning Sound Sorting from The Printable Princess
Sound Sorting from The Measured Mom
Initial Sound Sorting from Totschooling

Beginning Reading Sorting Activities

Sorting words by word families, parts of speech, or prefixes/suffixes helps to deepen vocabulary and improve reading and spelling fluency.

Farm Themed Sorting Pictures by Syllables from The Letters of Literacy
Turkey Themed Word Family Sorting from Kindergarten Worksheets and Games
Ice Cream Themed Word Family Sorting from The Kindergarten Connection
Fall Themed Word Family Sorting from Playdough to Plato
Winter Themed Word Family Sorting Un, Ub from In My World
Popcorn Themed Word Family Sorting from Playdough to Plato

Science Sorting Activities

Even in subjects like Science and Social Studies, sorting is a fundamental skill that helps the brain make connections and organize new information

Insect Sorting – Wings and No Wings from Fun With Mama
Recycling Sorting from Supply Me
Earth Day Sorting from Totschooling
Habitat Sorting from Kiddy Charts
Food Group Sorting from Totschooling

We hope that you will find this great resource helpful for your early childhood classroom or at home with your children. With sorting being such a beneficial activity, use these resources and get started today!