Quick Set Up Sorting Activities

I love doing crafts but I hate the set up and tidy up. Any set up or tidy up that takes longer than the actual activity is a no go. For me it has to be all about minimal preparation and extremely quick tidy up. My son (3) has a very short attention span so I've been looking for activities that will hold his attention with very little set up time.

I came up with this really simple sorting activity after seeing Busy Toddler's shape sort on contact paper. I wanted to simplify this even more to suit the resources that I already had in the house. I hate seeing an activity that I want to do but need to go out and buy loads of things to complete it.

For this activity I simply divided a sheet of paper into four squares with a pen. I then wrote four different shapes in a different box along with a drawing of the corresponding shape. We had some foam shapes kicking about our craft drawer so we used them but you could use some wooden building block shapes, flash cards or any other shapes you have.

I then just placed the foam shapes in a pile next to the sheet of paper and let him sort away. He is pretty clued up about his shapes so it didn't last long but then he suggested we sort the colours. So I just grabbed another piece of paper and quickly separated it into four different colours. Then once he completed the colours I then made a matching number activity.

You can make this activity into whatever you want it to be shapes, colours, patterns or counting. You can also extend it by either gluing the matching items onto the paper or even doing it as a scavenger hunt.