What You Need: <\/strong>identical objects (or pairs) + something to define space such as a tray with divisions, or a rug with paper divisions<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some things I came up with: <\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Color Matching Work – I feel this category would be the easiest. It’s best for children who are in that stage where they just love to match colors. In this activity, there’s often a very clear isolation of stimulus: the items are essentially the same, but they differ in color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n SAMPLES: plain socks and pencils<\/p>\n\n\n\n ALTERNATIVES: pins, markers, pens, balls, play-doh covers, rubber bands, popsicle sticks, straws, candles, dyed cotton buds, plastic bottle covers, poker chips, colored paper, shaped and dried clay <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Later on, you can move to gradation work – one color, but different shades. You can use paint cards (free in hardware stores) for this, or you can print (easy search: pantone + color [ex: blue]) if you don’t have access to paint cards. Click HERE<\/a><\/strong> to see what I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although probably different in shapes, you can also work with the blocks you have at home. I think they’re still relatively easy to sort and match. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. In #2, I worked with a certain category (ex: fruits) in the same color. You can also work with a category in different colors or designs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The easiest to find would be memory game cards (which we all probably have). Memory game cards often come in a certain category (vehicles\/ animals\/ landmarks\/ etc), so you can choose a few for this activity. Tip: choose the category your child is most interested in! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Note: Memory game cards are very affordable. Dollar stores often carry some (usually real life photos, woohoo!) and locally, National Bookstore or even Toy Kingdom\/ Toys R Us often carry some. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. This one is tougher than the first three – very similar items with very slight differences. This requires lots of investigation to find the perfect match. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.mamatheexplorer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/MatchingWork3.jpg\")
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n2. In this next stage, the colors are the same, and the items fall in one cat gory, but each pair is different from the others. This stage needs a more careful differentiation.
SAMPLES: wooden fruits, miniatures
ALTERNATIVES: real food (fruits or vegetables), real plants (leaves or flowers), miniature toys you already have, identical magnets or keychains, art supplies (paint\/ chalk\/ crayons\/ etc), school and\/or office supplies
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