Materials
- Various pairs of shoes, slippers, and boots
- Grocery bags
Instructions
- Gather a variety of shoes for this activity (check yard sales and second-hand stores). Send a note home asking for donations of old pairs of shoes that are clean enough for classroom use. With large shoes, children are more willing to leave their socks on while trying on the shoes.
- Place the shoes in a pile and ask the children to find matches or "pairs."
- Ask them to do a variety of sorting activities. For example, ask them to put all of the shoes that could be worn in the snow in one pile and all of the shoes that could be worn in the summer in another pile.
- Children can sort shoes by size, color, and marks on the soles, or by those with laces, Velcro, or buckles.
- Encourage the children to count how many shoes, slippers, and boots there are and compare the results.
- At the end of the activity, have the children find pairs of shoes and put them in grocery bags.
- Put the shoes in the dress-up so the children can try them on. More to do Read The Shoemaker and the Elves to the children. Set up a "shoe-making" area with shoes and toy hammers. The children can pretend to be elves making shoes.
