Preschool math: Grouping and sorting

We have a Garanimals matching game at our house that has been a great game to have around for many things.  We play Memory with it (even my husband and I have used all the cards for a massive game of Memory), and we use it for various sorting and matching activities. 


It had been awhile since we played with our matching game so we pulled it out one night.  After a short game of Memory, Mini Me wanted to sort the cards into piles.  We decided to use our wonderful train table for the sorting.  

It was Mini Me's idea to sort the cards into the categories of "animals", "food", and "toys".  He wrote the beginning letters for each word on the table, then drew a circle around it so he could keep the cards organized. 

Here he is, hard at work.  Little Lady also wanted to participate, so we gave her a decoy pile of cards.  It started as Mini Me's pile of "this is not an animal, a food, or a toy" category, and Little Lady just moved them to a new location.  She was as busy as he was!

After the circles started getting full, he had to organize the stacks a little (I swear, this was his idea, not mine!)

After he sorted all 60 cards from the game (yes, 60!), he wanted to make new categories.  He wanted to sort the cards into the groups of "things I like" and "things I don't like".  He drew a smiley face and a frowny face for these categories. 

Things started off going very well, but Mini Me was in a very loving mood and decided he just liked everything in all the pictures.  Game over!

Before we knew it, we had passed a half hour grouping and sorting.  Bedtime!