Momtessori: Sort your house away!

Sorting is an activity that children can start doing when they as young as two . . . and guess what? We never stop sorting for the rest of our lives . . . sigh. (Think the show Clean Sweep - trash, sell, keep; your bills - pay now, pay later, wish we never had to pay; your canned goods in your pantry, your medicines and nail polish, the clothes in your closet, etc. . . . need I go on?)

Here's what you need: anything that can be sorted - the remnants of all your pasta boxes in your pantry, those extra buttons that come with all your clothes, the heaping piles of stuffed animals in your kiddo's room, the blocks in the basket, rocks, leaves, etc.

Here's why you should do it: It helps form order in your child's developing life (which you hope stays with them through middle school - ha!), teaches them to categorize their world around them, and may help you out it some small way!

Here are a few examples of sorting from around our house the past few days.

Lawton sorted the silverware (after I took out the sharp knives, of course!)

He worked very diligently - I could do it ten times faster, but that's not the point!

Lawton helped me sort the socks, (not very willingly, but he did!) And after photographing our laundry, it made me realize that maybe a few pairs had seen their better days . . .

All right, help me here! Both of these pairs are Lawton's! Did I miss something in the "how to buy children's socks?" seminar? Both of these came from Target, and the big pair is the "correct" size according to the chart on the back. The smaller pair is the next size down, and very noticeably different! He wants to wear the smaller pair most, but they are starting to get to small, but the bigger pair is "wiggly" and he can't stand them. Any mom pointers?

Then we sorted his cars! I will say, this is probably too large of a quantity for the very young child, and know that if you sort toys, they will get distracted! (We had lots of on the side races in between sorts!)

First, we sorted by color