Looking for a fun learning center that will help your students think about community workers? Try these free sorting mats!
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Recently I released a community helpers theme pack. Included in that pack is a giant set of community helper sorting mats. Today I’m sharing a free sample!
Your download comes with four sorting mats and six pictures for each mat.
How to assemble
1. Print the mats and cards.
2. Laminate. (This is our favorite home laminator!)
3. Cut apart the cards.
4. If desired, attach clear Velcro dots to the mats and cards. Attach the cards to each mat for storage.
5. To play, take out two or more mats. Remove the cards and mix them up. Have your child name the pictures and determine where the pictures belong.
My Three has learned a lot about community helpers in the last month, as we’ve spent many hours reading over a hundred books about community helpers! All that reading has really helped him expand his vocabulary.
These mats provided an opportunity to use that knowledge.
He could identify most, but not all, of the pictures by himself.
Doing these sorting mats together is such a great activity for him! He has to identify the pictures, think about how the objects are used, and determine which community helpers would use them.
There was lots of critical thinking going on!
Your download comes with four mats: firefighter, police officer, baker, and mail carrier. My Community Helpers theme pack comes with a total of 24 mats and card sets! I pulled out some from the theme pack, as he kept requesting more of them.
I chose mats that were easy to contrast: farmer and nurse, for example.
Hairdresser and grocer was another easy contrast.
We finished with artist and garbage collector.
These sorting mats are wonderful for at-home learning or for a center activity in a preschool classroom. Download the sample set below. If you’re doing a full community helpers theme, I recommend buying the full pack! These sorting mats are just one piece of a GIANT set of resources for preschool and kindergarten. You can learn more about the pack here.
© 2015 – 2018, Anna G. All rights reserved.
Rebecca Smith says
November 11, 2015 at 5:55 pmThese are so cool! Thanks for sharing.
Anna Geiger says
November 13, 2015 at 7:25 pmYou’re welcome, Rebecca!
Carla Martins says
November 12, 2015 at 2:04 amThank you for this great activity.
Anna Geiger says
November 13, 2015 at 7:25 pmYou’re very welcome, Carla!
jane says
November 12, 2015 at 3:04 amThanks for sharing
really helpful
Anna Geiger says
November 13, 2015 at 7:25 pmI hope you get a chance to use them, Jane!
Amber says
January 10, 2016 at 1:40 pmI love everything you create!
Anna Geiger says
January 10, 2016 at 8:27 pmThank you so much, Amber!
Erlyne says
March 14, 2016 at 9:47 pmLove these mats!!! So great for vocabulary development. :o)
Anna Geiger says
March 15, 2016 at 5:37 pmThank you, Erlyne!
Cindi says
May 29, 2016 at 7:57 amThis was perfect! Thank you so much!!
Anna Geiger says
June 7, 2016 at 5:28 pmYou’re very welcome, Cindi!
Doreen says
September 17, 2016 at 10:16 pmWow! What a great activity Thank you
Anna Geiger says
September 18, 2016 at 6:48 amYou’re welcome, Doreen! My son really loves these. They’re such a great vocabulary builder!
Maricor says
January 28, 2017 at 7:51 amThank you so much.
Anna Geiger says
January 28, 2017 at 8:18 amYou’re very welcome, Maricor!
Darlene Neely says
January 28, 2017 at 10:12 amThank you so much for sharing. These are perfect!
Anna Geiger says
January 29, 2017 at 8:31 amYou’re very welcome, Darlene!
erin says
May 1, 2017 at 2:00 pmHello,
These mats look wonderful. Do you sell the mats separate from the whole bundle? I’m on a tight budget. Thanks.
Anna Geiger says
May 1, 2017 at 3:28 pmNo – just part of the set.
Darla Minor says
January 7, 2018 at 11:38 pmSo are the mats free I don’t see a link for them
Anna G says
January 13, 2018 at 8:28 pmYes – click on the green box that says “to get your free printable click here.”
Pepper says
September 27, 2018 at 12:53 pmThank you so much for sharing, these are great!
Anna G says
October 15, 2018 at 7:24 amYou’re welcome!