Summer Outdoor Learning Activity: Sort and Match "Laundry" Fabric Scraps on a Kid-sized Clothesline!

Treasure those last few weeks of summer outside with an activity that is not only fun, but educational too! Sort and match "laundry" (fabric scraps) on a kid-sized clothesline! Educational benefits include: fine motor skills, sorting, marching, counting, and much more! This can be made into several activities with just a little tweaking!

You'll need:

~Fabric scraps in various colors/patterns

~Clothespins ($1 at the dollar store)

~Yarn or string

~ Two smallish chairs

Here's a pictorial of how we did it!

First, Gather scraps of fabric from your stash. Virtual any size will do. Cut them into squares, two for each pattern/color!

Make your own clothesline by tying a long piece of yarn to two (preferably kid-sized) chairs! have the kids help you put up the first set of "laundry" to dry.

Then, see if they can match the corresponding colors to each scrap (ahem, piece of laundry).

For the younger set, try just working with the clothes pins...

Ta-da! (we moved into the shade..and there you see my little miss-still in her PJ's!)

Number the clothespins to work on letter recognition and counting (this also works for the alphabet too!)

(I tried to get them to stay up, but they kept swinging over, hence, the upside down view!)

This activity can be worked to accommodate many age levels!

~Babies

Playing with fabric scraps is an excellent sensory experience for them!

~Toddlers

just match the scraps of fabric together.

play with only the clothesline and pins

~Preschoolers

Match the fabrics on the clothesline

Number the clothespins and count them!

Set up two clotheslines and have a mini-relay!

~Older Kids

Time the matching, see how quickly you can get them up and matched!

Race with a friend or sibling!

hide them around the yard or house and make it a scavenger hunt!