Apple Sorting Busy Bag
Post by Contributing Writer Kim of Life Over C’s
We have been working on colors for quite a while with my special needs preschooler. From time to time, she will say a color name or point to a color, but she still needs lots of practice. To help her with that, I created this apple sorting busy bag. It’s limited amount of colors helps to keep her from getting overwhelmed while she is working.
Materials needed for the Apple Sorting Busy Bag:
10 each red, green and yellow pom poms
1 half sheet each of red, green and yellow card stockÂ
Brown pipe cleaners cut into 30 small pieces
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
1 Gallon-sized zip top baggie
To make the apples, hot glue one piece of brown pipe cleaner onto each pom pom. (I had my 10-year-old do this for me to save me time since she was ‘bored’.)
To store the activity, put it all together in the plastic baggie.
When you are ready to use it with your child, decide if you want to start with two colors or all three. Starting with two is a great idea if you are really focusing on the names of each color or if your child has no experience sorting. Adding the third color takes more concentration and may be overwhelming when first being introduced to sorting.
As your child picks up each “apple”, ask them the color, repeat the color back to them, ask where the matching paper is (again saying the color name). And after each one give an enthusiastic “Yay! You put the ____ colored apple on the _____ colored paper!!
It can get tedious after a long session, but repeating the names of the colors will help your child to recognize the associated words.
It may also seem like you are praising a tiny thing and that it’s too much. However, to a small child, this is a big task and they want to know that they it well.
In contrast, if your child does not match the color correctly don’t say, “You’re wrong.” Just pick it up and move it back to the pile and say “Let’s try again.” With time and practice he will get better.
Continue sorting until all the apples are on the correct paper or your child’s interest in the activity is done. Whichever comes first. You don’t want to prolong the activity after a child has lost interest because then it really begins to feel like work to them instead of fun play.
I hope you and your child enjoy this fun apple sorting busy bag this fall!
Kim is a work at home mom of four awesome daughters {12, 10, 7 year olds and a special needs 4 year old}. She is wrapping up her 7th year of homeschooling and, before recently returning to the States, lived overseas for 9 years. Kim shares free printables and educational activities over at Life Over C’s.Â
Kim is a work at home mom of four awesome daughters {12, 10, 7 year olds and a special needs 4 year old}. She is wrapping up her 7th year of homeschooling and, before recently returning to the States, lived overseas for 9 years
