Sort the real stuff first
Dump a tub of buttons, blocks or pom-poms on the rug. Kids sort into paper plates any way they like, then a partner guesses the rule. "Big and little!" Only after lots of hands-on sorting do we move to cut-and-glue color sorts.
Why it works: going from real objects to pictures to symbols is a core recommendation of the U.S. Department of Education's elementary math guide.
Try it withClassify Count and Sort By Color WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →























