Touch and texture
Sort buttons by color
Sort a bowl of large buttons into a muffin tin or small dishes by color or size, in any order.
Who might enjoy it: People who have sewn, kept a button tin or like sorting things into order. Skip it for anyone who puts small things in their mouth.
- Setup
- About 5 minutes
- Activity
- 10–30 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Mess
- Little mess
- Where
- At a table, seated-friendly
- Help
- Hands-on help
Materials: 3 everyday things, listed below
What you need
- A bowl or tub of large buttons, in a few colors or sizes
- A muffin tin, or a few small dishes or bowls
- A tray or towel to work on
No need to buy anything special
- No muffin tin? Use a shallow box lid or an egg carton.
- No large buttons? Use large bottle caps or plastic lids instead.
What to do
- Sit at a table with the bowl of buttons, the muffin tin and the tray in reach.
- Pour a small handful of buttons onto the tray.
- Pick up one button and look at its color and size.
- Place it in a muffin cup or dish that matches, or start a new one.
- Keep going, one button at a time, in whatever order they like.
- Ask what they notice about the colors or sizes as the dishes fill up.
- Tip the buttons back into the bowl, one dish at a time.
It is okay to stop or change it
It is fine to stop after a few buttons. Tip the sorted buttons back into the bowl, and leave the dishes out for another time.
Make it easier or different
- Make it easier
- The helper pre-sorts two or three colors into dishes, and the person adds one button at a time to the right one.
- Less to see, hear or touch
- Use only smooth, plain buttons in two colors, and sort on a soft cloth instead of a hard tray.
- For low vision
- Use dark dishes for pale buttons, or pale dishes for dark ones, so each button stands out against the dish.
Safety
- Use only large buttons that cannot fit in the mouth, and remove any small or loose parts from the bowl.
- Never use this with someone who puts things in their mouth. Stay close and keep the bowl on the table.
- Count the buttons out at the start and back in at the end, so none are left on the floor or in a chair.
- Check buttons for cracks, sharp edges or loose threads before use, and remove any that are damaged.
These are practical suggestions, not medical advice. You know the person best.
Sorting buttons is a hands-on task with no wrong answer, because any sorting is a good sorting. The colors, shapes and feel of the buttons give plenty to talk about without any questions to answer. It works well at a table with a helper nearby.