Having Fun at Home: Ice Cube Sorting Tray

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Ice Cube Sorting Tray

An ice cube tray makes for such a nice little sorter for toddlers. I have a packet of colored paper shapes that I inherited from a preschool teacher, but it seems like it would also work well with colored pom poms. At first, I tried to encourage G to sort according to color or shape, but as this led to frustration, I backed off and let her follow her own little system.

Any other ideas for things that might work well to sort in the ice cube tray (but that aren't choking hazards?)

5 comments:

Chelsea said...: Well, if you go with the "will it fit through a paper tube" rule of thumb, then most things that would fit in an ice-cube tray would be choking hazards, but how about finger foods? She could sort cut up grapes and cheerios, or, if you are okay with coloured cereals, something like fruit loops would work well too. Other alternatives might be the naturally coloured goldfish crackers, bits of bread, banana, cheese etc cut into different shapes (those little linzer cookie cutters are great for that), or different coloured cheeses. It could be like a mini-muffin tin lunch: an ice cube tray lunch! Have fun, and have a wonderful Easter.; April 20, 2011 at 11:39 PM
Chelsea said...: Hmm, now that I'm thinking about muffin tins, I think those would make great toddler sorting trays as well. You could use duplo, wooden blocks, etc to sort. Actually, scraps of fabric (especially felt) would be perfect for sorting in either a muffin tin or ice cube tray too. You could use different colors, or cut the felt into different shapes.; April 21, 2011 at 10:37 AM
Katey said...: oooo- I like the finger foods idea! I think maybe the next time M has a school time I'll let G have a snack/blanket play time.; April 21, 2011 at 2:03 PM
Kara Chupp said...: great idea! I've never thought of that, but it's perfect! Simple, inexpensive...easy to store!
Thank you.; April 21, 2011 at 4:03 PM
Sandi said...: I wanted to share with you our no-mess toddler-approved Easter egg-dyeing activity with you. I got it off of Martha Stewart.

http://nathanandsandi.blogspot.com/2011/04/eggs-to-dye-for.html

Love all your ideas!; April 24, 2011 at 5:03 PM