Sweeping Colors Sorting Activity Inspired by the Cat in the Hat

The Virtual Book Club for Kids is featuring The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss this month. We were inspired by the Cat’s cleanup machine to create a Sweeping Colors Sorting Activity.  Affiliate links are included in this post. Clicking on the book titles or covers will take you to Amazon.

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss

With The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss changed the world of beginning readers forever. He created a whimsical world that is funny and silly and interesting to read about. The Cat in the Hat shows up when mom is away with lots of fun games to play. The house is a giant mess but not to worry. The Cat cleans up just as mom is about to walk in the door.

Sweeping Colors Sorting Activity

Since the Cat always cleans up his messes, I thought it would be fun to add some learning to the clean up. This colors sorting activity was created for Lily (21 months). Aiden (age 6) played along with her. I made another sweeping game for him that I’ll share tomorrow.

For this activity, you’ll need the following:

• Dust pan
• Broom (or cleaning brush)
• Colored balls (toys would work, too)
• Colored containers (you could also use pieces of colored paper)

Spread the balls over the floor. Place the colored containers on one side of the room. Encourage your child to sweep a colored ball into the dust pan.

Carry the ball to the matching container.

Talk to your child about the colors of the balls. “What color is the ball?” “You have the yellow ball.” “Place the blue ball in the blue box.”

Ask your child to go get a certain color. “Can you find a green ball?” “Where is an orange ball?”

Sometimes Lily chose not to use the dust pan or broom. She just used her hands to move the balls from one side of the room to the other. That’s okay, too.

Continue playing until all of the balls are cleaned up. Then, you can dump them out and play again.

More Dr. Seuss Inspired Activities from Us

• Kite Rhyming with the Cat in the Hat – This activity is inspired by the kites Thing One and Thing Two fly throughout the house!
• One Fish Two Fish Size Sorting – Practice measuring and sorting fish by size in this activity.
• Truffula Tree Math Games – Work on number recognition, addition, and subtraction with Truffula Trees from the Lorax.
• See all of our Dr. Seuss Inspired Ideas here.

More Ideas from the Virtual Book Club for Kids

See more activities inspired by The Cat in the Hat:

Cat in the Hat Number Lines and Sequences from Rainy Day Mum
The Cat in the Hat Breakfast Hash Browns from Growing Book by Book
Cat in the Hat Science from Toddler Approved
Cat In The Hat Fine Motor Hats from the Pleasantest Thing
Cat in the Hat Themed: Gross Motor Activity from 3 Dinosaurs
Cat in the Hat Shape Activity from Mom Inspired Life
Cat in the Hat Center of Gravity Preschool Science from Preschool Powol Packets
Build the Hat activity from I Can Teach My Child
Cat in the Hat Name Puzzles from Still Playing School
Cat in the Hat Alphabet Fishbowl Game from The Educators’ Spin On It
Color Resist Art with The Cat In The Hat from Mama Miss

Also stop by the Virtual Book Club for Kids Facebook page to see what others are sharing!

Next month we’ll be featuring The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. See our entire Virtual Book Club for Kids book list here.

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