These Shoes Were Made For Sorting

Math Topic: Sorting and Counting

Grade: Pre-K

Materials
Colored construction paper, scissors, glue sticks, yarn, velcro, pushpins, and markers

Setup
Precut pieces of yarn and velcro. Precut two circles out of large pieces of white construction paper.

Procedure
Place pieces of yarn, velcro, scissors, and markers at a workstation. Hang your two large circles side-by-side on a bulletin board. Ask your students to look at the color of their shoes and to find a piece of paper that is that same color. In small groups, trace around students' shoes on their pieces of colored construction paper. Help students to cut out their shoes. Then, encourage your students to decorate their shoes to look like the ones on their feet, including how the shoes close (i.e. laces, velcro, buckles, etc.).
Decide upon two sorting categories, such as "My shoes have laces" and "My shoes have no laces." Label the circles on the board and invite children to hang their pair of shoes in the appropriate circle. Try this activity using a variety of different sorting rules. To change your bulletin board into a counting activity, take down the circles and stretch a long piece of yarn across the top of your board. Hang your students' pairs of shoes along the clothesline and practice counting by twos.