Materials:
Multi-colored bag of pony beads
5 or 6 sheets of colored construction paper
3 pipe cleaners, cut in half
Scissors
Paper punch
Directions: Cut one heart from each sheet of construction paper. Punch a hole on the edge of each one and secure a half pipe cleaner in the hole.
Pour the pony beads into a bowl or onto a tray. For younger children, you may want to remove any colors that don’t match any of your hearts. Encourage your child to pick a heart±a red one, for example, and only thread red pony beads on the pipe cleaner.
If you sort along with your child, you can choose a heart, thread a bead or two on it, and ask your child if he can find another bead for you to thread on your heart. Your child will stay engaged a lot longer if you work with him. Continue the sorting until your little one loses interest. It’s perfectly fine to choose a bead first and put it on the correct heart. The concept you’re trying to teach is how we group certain items together—based on color, in this particular activity. There are many ways to sort, and as your child increases his confidence in sorting, you can branch out into sorting by other attributes!