Intro
Classification and sorting can take on a more personal meaning when children use items
they've created themselves. This activity gives children an opportunity to use recycled
household materials, create their own manipulatives and sort them by pattern or color.

Set Up Ideas
Have tempera paints in a variety of colors ready for children to begin painting. You may
also wish to add some simple collage items for more unique rolls.

Let’s Get Started
For this activity, you'll need to gather several large and small craft rolls. Using whole
paper towel rolls or ones cut into smaller sizes can be a great way to use recycled
materials. You'll also need tempera paint and paint brushes to decorate the craft rolls and
a meter stick to practice patterns.

Tips and Tricks
For a little added fun, allow the children to add some collage items such as pom poms or
sequins to their craft rolls. Just make sure that the base color is clear so that they can
classify it.

Follow up Activity
For a fun way to use those craft rolls and practice counting, try craft roll bowling! Line the
painted craft rolls up like bowling pins and use a ball or small object to knock them down.
Who can score the most?

This activity is a great opportunity to broach a number of topics with small children.
Discuss the colors that they've used to paint their rolls. What is their favorite color?
Count with them how many rolls there are of each color. How many did they paint?

Steps:

1. Have a painting party and have the children paint all of the empty rolls that you have
   collected. Make sure to use several colors.
2. After the rolls are dry, have the children sort the rolls into sets for each color. You may
   stack the rolls together, or simply group them together.
3. If the children are able to recognize repeating patterns, have them thread the rolls onto a
   meter stick to create a repeating pattern.
4. If you are discussing animals in science or want to add a fun twist, have children paint
   stripes, spots or hair lines on the rolls to represent animals and repeat the sorting activity.