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Sorting by two things
Putting things into groups by what they look like, then by two things at once: orange and round, small and pointy. Little Roos has 8 free games that practise it, for ages 3-7.
Where it fits
In the Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 (birth to five) and the Australian Curriculum v9 (Foundation to Year 2), with the official wording:
- AC9MFSP01 (Australian Curriculum v9: Mathematics, Foundation): sort, name and create familiar shapes; recognise and describe familiar shapes within objects in the environment, giving reasons.
- AC9MFM01 (Australian Curriculum v9: Mathematics, Foundation): identify and compare attributes of objects and events, including length, capacity, mass and duration, using direct comparisons and communicate reasoning.
- EYLF 4.2 (Early Years Learning Framework V2.0): Children develop a range of learning and thinking skills and processes such as problem solving, inquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating.
Games that practise it
- Ibis's Big Tidy-Up: Sorting by two things at once: colour and shape, size and shape. Ages 4-7.
- Long Ago or Today?: Sorting animals we know from fossils and animals alive today. Ages 3-6.
- Sink or Float?: Guessing first, then looking. Things that are light for their size float; things that are heavy for their size sink. Ages 3-6.
- Magnet Hunt: Testing a guess: magnets pick up things with iron in them, but not wood, plastic or even foil. Ages 3-6.
- Which Bin?: Sorting into the green, yellow and red-lid bins most councils use. Check your own council's bins. Ages 3-7.
- Who Lives Where?: Sorting Australian sea animals by where they live: the Great Barrier Reef, the open sea, the mangroves and the kelp forests of the south. Ages 3-7.
- Land, Sea or Sky?: Sorting vehicles by where they go: on the land, on the sea or in the sky. Ages 3-6.
- Where Does It Grow?: Where food comes from: on a tree, on a vine, or under the ground. Ages 3-6.
Away from the screen
About two minutes each, with things most homes have.
The washing basket sort (from Ibis's Big Tidy-Up)
- Tip out a pile of clean socks (or blocks, or buttons).
- Sort them one way first: all the same colour together.
- Mix them up and sort again, by two things this time: big and striped, small and plain. Where does each one go?
Things to ask while they play
- How did you know which box it went in?
- Could it go in two boxes? Why not?
More skills in Shapes, colours and patterns, or every skill.
Updated