I got this awesome tray a few months ago, so I was really excited to finally put it to use in a sorting work.  I found some foam shapes at Target with the perfect number of shapes for the different sections of the tray, so I quickly put it together.  You can find a tray like it here.

I took each shape and traced it on the appropriately colored construction paper, then taped each one down in a different section of the tray.  I put the foam shapes in the center, and that was it!

When L found this work, I showed her how to match each shape to the appropriate section.  She quickly figured it out and started sorting the rest of the shapes on her own.  We were able to talk about both colors and shapes as she completed this work.

Sorting works help children to notice and vocalize differences in objects.  They also help their sense of order.  This particular sorting work builds color and shape recognition, since those are the variables we are sorting by in this work.