Toy Box Labels
What you need
- sticky notes or small squares of paper
- crayons
- masking tape
- the boxes or baskets their toys live in
How to do it
- Tip one toy box out and sort the toys into piles together: cars, animals, blocks.
- Ask your child to draw a picture label for each pile on a sticky note: a car, an animal, a block.
- Help them write the first letter of the word beside the picture, if they'd like to.
- Stick each label on a box or basket and let them put the toys away by the labels.
Why it matters
Sorting toys into groups and drawing a label for each gives tidying a system they made themselves.
What they're learning
- Sorting
- Cars here, animals there: putting things into groups.
- Marks that mean words
- A drawn car on a label says "cars go here".
- Putting things back
- Checking the label before dropping a toy in.
What to look for
Notice them checking a label before they drop a toy in.
A tip
Keep the groups broad, three or four piles. A label with a car on it is enough.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: draw the labels together and let them do the sorting and putting away
Harder: add a label for each person's things, with the first letter of each name
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Everyday helper activities · Toddler activities with a basket · Toddler activities with paper · Toddler activities with a cardboard box · Toddler activities with masking tape