Sorting

This station uses a cheap drying rack that you could find at a dollar store. I hang it from a beam along the ceiling in my classroom so it hangs at a level that the kids can reach it easily. The topic is set (What could you find at the park?) and the kids have to decide which pictures that I provide belong in that group.

If the picture DOES belong in the group it gets clipped on to one of the laundry clips.

If it DOES NOT belong then it gets placed in a discard pile. When a kid is done they remove the pictures and place it back on the shelf for another kid to use.

This activity helps kids with sorting according to group definitions and with fine motor skills. I have 3 different groups with coordinating pictures that I pull out throughout the school year.

This is actually one of the only activities that is my own idea. I mean, sorting is a common skill in preschool and kindergarten but the drying rack is ALL MINE!

What are stations? Stations are activities that I've found/created for kids to use independently while I'm working with another set of students. The topics of the stations generally build on a topic that we've already learned about in class so there isn't a lot of new teaching that needs to be done.