Taskbox Time: Basic Sorting Tasks

Basic sorting tasks can be a great way to teach foundational skills such as colors, shapes, or visual attention. They can also be a great independent task for students. When first introducing a structured work system, we often recommend that teams use basic fine motor or sorting tasks as the assigned work so that effort can be focused on teaching the sequence of the structured work system and less effort is needed for the tasks. Today's Taskbox Time has a variety of basic sorting tasks that can easily be replicated for use in your classroom!

Button Sorting
Kirsten Johnson
Greene INC, Greene County

Colored Peg Sorting
Kirsten Johnson
Greene INC, Greene County

Colored Counter Sorting
Jamie Minnish
Prass Elementary, Kettering

Lakeshore Magnetic Cookie Sorting
Debi Gnau
Mad River Early Childhood Center, Mad River

Ocean Animal Sorting
Jamie Minnish
Prass Elementary, Kettering

Letter Bead Sorting
Kirsten Johnson
Greene INC, Greene County 

Plastic Link Shapes Sorting
Kirsten Johnson
Greene INC, Greene County 

Color Swatch Sorting
Taylor Ruef
Stevenson Elementary, Mad River

Colored Tile Sorting
Annette Black
Springfield High School, Springfield

For more sorting task ideas don't miss our previous posts:

Taskbox Time: Sorting by Color, Size, and Shape

Taskbox Time: Life Skills Sorting

Most of these taskboxes can be made simply with common household and office supplies. The Target dollar bins and Dollar Tree also offer affordable materials for easy taskbox assembly. Other organizations provide donations. In the Miami Valley, many teachers volunteer at Crayons for Classrooms or attend the Montgomery County Material Reuse Facility's Teacher Shopping Days.

For more ideas check out some of our favorite structured work system books.