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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Real-World 3D Shapes - Sorting Activity
Practice identifying and sorting three-dimensional shapes with this set of 24 sorting cards.
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Fact Family Math Blast Off - Addition and Subtraction
Demonstrate an understanding of addition and subtraction fact families with a fun cut and sort 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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Building Words with Suffixes Sorting Activity
Build words by matching the root word to suffixes, recording the new words on the answer sheet.
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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 Sorting Game
Get students in the habit of researching with our dictionary activity that helps learners match a word to its definition and part of speech.
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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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St. Patrick's Day Math Center - Odd and Even Number Sort
Sort odd and even numbers into their corresponding pots with a St. Patricks Day math activity.
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Pot of Gold Sort - 2D and 3D Shapes
Sort coins that feature 2D shapes and 3D objects into their corresponding pots with a St. Patricks Day theme!
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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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Synonym Word Match Cards
Match pairs of synonyms with a set of printable synonym flash cards.
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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 Matching Activity
A matching activity to use around Presidents' Day or Independence Day.
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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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Lower Grades - Synonyms or Antonyms? Sorting Activity
Identify synonyms and antonyms with a sorting activity designed for lower elementary students.
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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.
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Syllable Examples Sorting Activity
Practice identifying and sorting syllable types in two- and three-syllable words with this treasure-themed sorting activity.
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Sweet Phonemes - Segmentation Sorting Activity
Practice segmenting phonemes in common words with this sweet sorting activity.
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Author's Purpose Sorting Activity
In this author's purpose activity, students will sort 20 phrase cards into groups by identifying whether the text is meant to inform, persuade, or entertain.
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Force and Motion Sorting Activity
Show students force and motion examples with this force and motion sorting activity for elementary school science lessons.
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Word Family Sorting Cards
A set of 36 sorting cards to reinforce word families and rhyming with your students.
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Communication in the Past and Present- Sorting Activity
A fun sorting activity for students to identify old and new communication devices.