The ability to organize the environment into groups allows humans to think critically about things they see, respond more efficiently to situations, and learn new information more quickly by relating it to existing knowledge. In children, these categorization skills relate strongly to
language development and
emergent math skills.
To help your child practice categorization, first gather a group of 8-10 items, such as toys, natural objects from outside, or illustrated flash cards. Ask your child to find the ones that “match,” and then ask them why they made those choices. Research shows that
young children tend to categorize objects based on perceptual features like shape and color. (For example, they might group all of the round or red objects together.) So chances are, your child will group things that look the same, and they’ll tell you so.
Now, choose one of the objects yourself and ask your child to find all of the things that are the same "type" as this one. Research demonstrates that using phrases like “the same
kind” or “the same
type” when asking children to group objects
encourages kids to categorize items according to taxonomic, or conceptual, features like behavior or function. (For example, your child might group all of the “things that roll” or “things you draw with” together.)
By being explicit about
how your new conceptual strategy is different from the perceptual strategy, you can help your child understand that there are different ways to group things. At the same time, by encouraging thinking about conceptual relations among items, you’ll help your child move toward a more mature way of categorization. Learning new strategies for organizing things in their environment means learning new and exciting ways to observe, communicate, and solve problems about the world!
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