Thursday, November 3, 2011

Sorting Practice

I have always been a believer that the best learning happens when kids are doing something that matters. Like cooking, cleaning, or, in this case, sorting laundry.

IMG_0717This is a great activity for your preschooler, because they can learn a lot of things – first, they are practicing sorting (and this is beyond just sorting by ‘color’ because they have to use classifiers like ‘light’ and ‘dark’ and ‘bright’). Second, they are learning that their clothes don’t just magically go from the laundry basket to their drawers. IMG_0720I have let my kids load the washer and the dryer since they were big enough to sit up on top of the dryer (top loading washer + dirty clothes + baby = baby putting things in a container – and what baby doesn’t enjoy doing that!) but now V is old enough to learn how to sort laundry, so sometimes they help me sort the laundry. J likes to help, too, but we have to tell her where each piece of laundry goes. She’s learning, though, and can sometimes do a few on her own.

What “real  life” activities do you do with your kids? How do they learn doing every day activities? Do you let them help with the dishes? Sort the laundry? Mop the floor? What concepts do you see them learning as they participate in daily life at home?

1 comment:

  1. I actually was just thinking about this today. Joshua got to stay up a little longer and he helped me clean the kitchen. He actually on his own accord got out a tupperware for the left overs and put them in the fridge. He wiped the counters and did other kitchen cleaning activities. I asked him where he learned to do that and he laughed and said, "from you!" He also said he thought cleaning the kitchen was fun. I should take advantage of that. I haven't had them help with laundry yet though. That's a though.

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