In early childhood classrooms, egg cartons, muffin tins and the like are often used for sorting activities with materials like beads, items from nature or other small manipulatives. The practice of sorting encourages cognitive development in areas such science and math including color and shape recognition, counting, greater then/less then, classification, grouping, observation, and more. There is also a sensory component when sorting by things like texture or smell.
Below are pictures from an activity I introduced to O at about 12 months. It is a pre-sorting activity that I came up with one morning. I had a typical sorting activity on my mind but knew O wasn't developmentally ready for that yet. So, I took out some corks that he liked to play with and put them in dish and showed him each cork fit into a space in the egg carton. He loved it and laughed every time he got one in on his own.
Since then, we have found that rocks work really well too, as is shown in the photos. At this point, I can give him the rocks and the carton and he completes the activity on his own, including putting the rocks back into the original container.
I truly believe in the idea of exposing young children to materials and concepts that might typically be geared for older children so that they become familiar and comfortable with them, gradually. This activity is getting O ready for the day when he will be asked to sort materials into their own section or place based on color, shape, etc... Next, we will add a second item to the mix and he will be able to see the comparison of the two items. Following that, he will have to use the columns or rows of the carton to arrange like objects.
In addition, this type of activity is building his stamina and level of concentration and focus, he is learning how to work through a task to completion. He is certainly proud of his accomplishment and enjoys repeating the process a number of times.
No comments:
Post a Comment