Fall Tree Color Matching and Sorting

Children are natural sorters. Sorting things helps them makes sense of things and you have probably noticed your child sorting things like toys, crayons, and blocks. This activity adds a little novelty to sorting by using a contact paper sticky wall and color recognition too. What I love about activities like this is that as simple as they are they promote so many types of learning like counting, comparing sizes and even exploring textures all without direct instruction from an adult. Here is how we did it.

Gather your materials. You will need some contact paper, something to attach it to the wall ( I used thumbtacks but painter’s tape works better), felt leaves in various colors ( you could use paper too), scissors and brown paper.

Start by attaching the contact paper with the sticky side out onto your wall.

Next make the three trees. I started making the first solo and my daughter stepped in to make the other two. I don’t know why I didn’t ask her to help from the get go. She was so into it !

Place the felt leaves in a tray or box and set them up within easy reach. I added a dot of color on each tree but that’s optional. You could also just add one leaf to each for a prompt if need be. Do not give  kids any prompts if they don’t need them.

Sort! You may notice that my little helper is in a new outfit. After we made the activity she wasn’t ready for it and instead wanted to play with a sensory bin I’d been constructing. Then we read… eventually we got back to this after getting dressed for the day. I know it’s exciting when you set up a project but if your child isn’t into it don’t push. Leave it set up and they will go check it out , enjoy it more and most importantly learn more because they are interested and not forced.

Additional ideas :

• Use shapes instead of felt leaves
• Use word families
• Use numbers