Do you every find yourself searching for simple activity ideas that will keep your toddler busy and engaged for more than just a few minutes? Of course you do! Who doesn’t like a few minutes to cook a meal, respond to emails, go to the bathroom in peace, or just sit down and relax, without having an energetic toddler clinging to your legs every second? This Sticker Color Sort activity is the perfect thing!
All you need to set this activity up is some small colored stickers (you only want one color per sticker). The packs of small circle stickers (red, yellow, green, and blue) that you can find in the office supplies section of your closest Target, are absolutely perfect for this task. I happened to have several larger round stickers in pink, green, light orange, and dark orange, that I had leftover from making my Alphabet Monster (http://capturingparenthood.com/baby-wipes-containers-make-great-toddler-toys/) awhile back. You will also need a sheet of construction paper to match each color of your stickers.
Simply tape the sheets of construction paper to a wall (at toddler height) and hand the stickers over to your little ones. They will be delighted. A quick conversation stating the goal of the activity is always a good idea. Let your little ones know that their task is to place each sticker on the matching color of paper. And then, let them go to town. Sit back and relax, catch up on a few things you’ve been trying to do all day, enjoy a nice hot cup of coffee or tea.
My little nugget had such a great time with this activity. She was completely engaged and loved the added challenge of color-matching the stickers with the paper (as opposed to her usual sticker tactic of just sticking them literally anywhere in our house). She did an excellent job of sorting the different colors, but after playing for awhile, she decided that it would be funny to intentionally put the stickers on the wrong color of paper. She burst into giggles every time. And then she would always move it to its proper location.
This activity doesn’t have to be finished in a day. Leave the sheets of paper taped to the wall and when your little one tires of the activity, put the stickers away until they request to do it all over again the next day. And I guarantee you they will ask to do it again! An activity that keeps on giving!
And when you’ve pulled each of the stickers off of the adhesive sheets, what better way to celebrate than to remove the sticky borders and adhere them to yourself? I love my little nugget’s imagination and desire to explore everything to the fullest.
Happy Sorting!
