Sorting Activities for Teachers
Download printable sorting activities to help your elementary students practice grouping different items into categories.
With activities aligned with the Common Core curriculum and editable options, this teacher resource collection is stocked with hundreds of resources perfect for elementary and middle school teachers,
Each sorting and grouping resource in this teaching resource collection has been created by a teacher, and each resource has undergone a rigorous review by the teachers on the Teach Starter team to ensure it's ready to download and use in your classroom.
Choose from sorting activities for math, ELA, science or social studies with printable and digital options available! This collection also includes sorting activities that can be used for whole class, group or independent tasks.
Curious about how our teacher team uses sorting activities to keep kids engaged and make learning more fun? Read on for a primer!
What Are Sorting Activities?
Let's start with a definition. When we talk about sorting activities at Teach Starter, we're referring to hands-on activities for students that require them to identify, sort, and group different items into alike categories.
This tests recognition and helps students develop their problem-solving skills.
Are you mostly familiar with sorting activities for preschool or kindergarten? We have those, but you'll also find activities designed for older students from 1st and 2nd grade all the way up through 5th and 6th grade.
The goal is to strengthen students' comparison skills and deepening their understanding of a particular topic by sorting cards, playing games and often matching items.
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Classifying 3D Shapes Sorting Activity
Play this sorting game when learning how to classify 3D shapes according to their properties.
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I Can Be Cooperative Sort
Practice personal and social skills to cooperate and interact respectfully with others with an engaging sorting activity.
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Is It Cooperative? Social Skills Activity
Explore the difference between cooperative and non-cooperative behavior with a sorting activity.
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Adding Within 100 - Strip Diagram Match-Up Activity
Practice using the tape diagram to add numbers within 100 with this match-up activity.
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10 More 10 Less Sorting Card Game
Engage your students and have them practice reading statements about values 10 more or 10 less, then and determining if the statement is accurate.
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Asking for Help Sorting Activity
Explore whether a question is an 'ask now' question 'wait' question with this sorting activity.
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Affixes Word Building Puzzle Activity
Build words with affixes with a pack of printable word-building puzzles.
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Plant Vocabulary Words - Matching Activity
Help students become familiar with vocabulary related to plants with a hands-on matching game.
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Main Idea or Supporting Detail – Sorting Activity
An activity for students to determine which of 2 related facts is a main idea and which is a supporting detail.
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Real-World 3D Shapes - Sorting Activity
Practice identifying and sorting three-dimensional shapes with this set of 24 sorting cards.
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Word Building Bricks - Prefixes, Suffixes, and Roots Activity
Build, read and write multi-syllable words using prefixes, suffixes, and base words with a fun word-building literacy activity.
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Forgiving Friends – Character Education Activities
Use these character education activities to encourage students to maintain and repair friendships by forgiving others.
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Number Neighborhood - Printable Number Line Sequencing Cards
Print a set of colorful numbered houses to use for skip counting, ordering, and comparing numbers.
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Is It Magnetic? Sorting Activity
Use this sorting activity when classifying objects as magnetic or not magnetic.
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Objects in the Sky – Sorting Activity
Determine if statements about different objects in the sky are true or false with this sorting activity.
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Place Value Cacti - 3-Digit Expanded Form Activity
A fun place value activity for students to play in the classroom when exploring 3-digit numbers and expanded forms.
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Dictionary Skills - Guide Words Sorting Mats
Practice using guide words in a dictionary with this popcorn-themed sorting activity.
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Synonym Roll Sorting Center
Encourage your kids to take a bite out of language learning with our sweet “Synonym Roll” sorting activity.
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Man-made vs. Natural Features - Sorting Activity
Identify the natural and human features of environments with this sorting activity.
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North American Indigenous People - Fact Sorting Worksheet
Review information learned about the indigenous people in the different regions of North America with a cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Animals and Their Habitats - Sorting Activity
Discover the habitats that are home to Earth’s wildlife with a printable animal habitat sorting activity.
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CVC Word Chain Sequencing Cards
Practice building word chains involving CVC words with these word chain sequencing cards.
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Famous Colonists Cut and Paste Worksheet
Show what you know about famous American colonists with a cut-and-paste Colonial Americans worksheet.
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Building Words with Prefixes Sorting Activity
Build words by matching the root word to prefixes, recording the new words on the answer sheet.
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Spring Short and Long Vowel Sort
Practice distinguishing short and long vowels with a Spring-themed short and long vowel sorting activity.
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Presidents' Day Sorting Activity
Engage your learners in Presidents’ Day activities with a printable sorting center about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
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Singular and Plural Possessives Task Cards
Practice writing phrases using the correct singular or plural possessive noun with a set of task cards.
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Businesses and Types of Industry – Sorting Activity
Help your students distinguish between different economic industries with this sorting activity.
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Alien Grab - Sorting by Category Activity
A fun sorting activity to identify toys from other everyday objects.
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Renewable and Nonrenewable Resources – Sorting Activity
Categorize resources as either renewable or nonrenewable with this 24-card sorting activity
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Types of Taxes – Sorting Activity
Differentiate between different types of taxes with this 24-card sorting activity.
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Groundhog Day Syllable Sort
Practice identifying and sorting syllable types in two- and three-syllable words with this Groundhog Day syllable sorting activity.