The Olympics are approaching quickly and I thought it would be fun to do some Olympic inspired activities with my boys.
To start with, I put together this super simple light table activity that works on color sorting. As you can probably guess by now, this activity is inspired by the Olympic rings. (The name of this post kind of gives it away, doesn't it?)
So, if you'd like to work on color recognition and sorting, then this Olympic rings activity is perfect! It's fun both on and off of the light table and is great for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarten kids.
A version of this post originally appeared on B-Inspired Mama.
What You'll Need for this Color Sorting Activity
To recreate this simple color sorting light table activity, you will need:
- Colored glass stones in Olympic colors (blue, yellow, black, green, and red) - You could substitute these with other transparent items, buttons, or pom poms if you'd prefer
- 5 clear plastic cups - Ours are individual sized applesauce containers
- Permanent markers - You'll need blue, yellow, black, green, and red to represent the different colors of the Olympic rings
- Light table, light box, or similar
First, you'll need to make your color sorting cups. To do this, simply color the inside bottom part of your plastic cups with your permanent markers. Let them dry for a few minutes before setting up the activity.
Once your cups are all colored and dry, set them out on the light table, arranged in the order of the Olympic rings. Then place the glass stones below the cups. The activity's final setup should look something like this:
Kids Will Enjoy Sorting Colors with this Simple Olympic Rings Activity!
After talking a bit about the Olympic rings and what the colors represent, the boys quickly turned to sorting the glass stones into their matching colored cup. Blue goes here, red goes there, and so on.
The boys worked together to sort the stones, identifying the names of the colors as they went along.
Once they finished sorting, we were left with some beautiful and colorful Olympic rings. Don't you love how the colors pop on the light table?
Keep in mind that you don't have to do this Olympic rings activity on the light table if you don't have one. After all, this activity works just as well off the light table. My kids just really love playing on the light table.
