Grab an empty box: this mash-up activity is a mix of recognizing colors, sorting dot stickers, and gross motor skills all rolled into one. With just a few supplies (a box, construction paper, dot stickers), this sorting activity comes to life with whole body movements. Color sorting cube is a perfect indoor activity for toddlers and preschoolers.
What if a sorting activity didn’t have to be stationary?
What if we could make it full body and full fun?
What if working on color identification could be filled with giggles?
That’s the basis of the color sorting cube. A dynamic, multi-dimensional activity that’s perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.
RELATED: What are the best activities for preschoolers? Check out my list!
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Why creating a color sorting cube has value
Sorting activities are some of my favorite easy activities for toddlers and preschoolers.
What looks like such a simple and straight forward skill is actually incredibly complex in early childhood.
When a child is sorting, they are categorizing information, organizing data, and judging attributes. It’s a whole lot of learning involved here that’s way beyond “matching.”
And the best part about sorting? It’s a skill children use in a whole host of fields. Kids sort in math, they sort information when they read, and they sort science materials and data. Sorting is a big part of learning.
The supply list
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These are pretty basic supplies for creating a color sorting cube and ones I keep on hand often for our kid activities. Ok, well maybe not the packing tape. This may be the only activity I have that uses packing tape…
How to set-up a color sorting cube
I grabbed a tissue box as my “cube” and glued four sheets of colored paper on the sides of it (each matching a color of dot stickers).
On the other two sides, I put black paper so those would be the “blank” sides of the activity.
To help keep this cube safe from toddler hands, I added some clear packing tape over the top to laminate the cube so to speak.
How the color sorting cube was full body
I showed my 2.5 year old how to toss the color sorting cube and let it land in front of him THEN sort the sticker onto the color the was facing up.
Immediately, this activity changed from him just placing stickers on a simple surface to one where he is dramatically rotating the cube to find the correct next color.
The hand-eye coordination, problem solving, dexterity – oh man, there is a whole lot of motor skill goodness in this little cube!
RELATED: Dot stickers are my favorite! Check out more dot sticker activities here.
Tip – Don’t rush to put this away
He set it all on the fireplace. He told me very specifically “I gonna come back to this.”
AND HE DID.
We kept it on the fireplace place with a few more sheets of dot stickers and he’d move to play with this just like if it was a regular toy.
How’s that for a DIY win?
Frequently Asked Questions
Remember: this stages not ages. Consider the child and what they are capable of/or working on. Do they recognize the difference between colors? Are they able to match colors that are the same? Can they toss a cube?
I get dot stickers from a little online shop called Amazon. The dollar store often has them and so do office stores.
Susie Allison, M. Ed
Owner, Creator
Susie Allison is the creator of Busy Toddler and has more than 2 million followers on Instagram. A former teacher and early childhood education advocate, Susie’s parenting book “Busy Toddler’s Guide to Actual Parenting” is available on Amazon.
