Buttons – sorting by color and fine motor skills

I’ve already written on sorting by size. But while I was busy sewing on my sewing machine last week, our toddler joined the table and spent quite some time playing with my sewing materials, rearranging buttons and spools of thread. As you can see on the photo, he was sorting buttons by color – he seemed immersed in the activity, he calmed down and it looked like he really enjoyed it. 

Especially the tiny buttons were a hit, and yesterday he asked for the tiny buttons to play with. I really don’t need them that much, so off they go to his shelf.. I put them in a shallow transparent box and hope the majority of them stays there at least for a while 🙂

So if you happen to have
some buttons you don’t really need, hand them over to your toddler. They can provide a nice challenge to the developing mind. (Just be careful to keep them away from the toddler’s mouth or nose, as always.)