Sorting Tree

Trees inspire us to grow, plant roots and develop into better versions of ourselves. The Rainbow Sorting Ring Tree not only helps your little one learn to match colours but also develops fine motor skills, all while talking about what trees mean to us and our planet.

THE SKILLS

Can a tree teach early math and science skills?
Most definitely.

Toddlers are naturally attracted to rings because they are easy to hold, and while many toys encourage toddlers to put rings on a vertical dowel, the Rainbow Sorting Ring Tree encourages
placement on a horizontal dowel. This skill develops hand-eye coordination and exposes the mind to viewing things in a different angle.

Little ones will at first just work on getting one ring onto the branches of the tree, and after a while will be able to put several rings on the branch. What happens if more than 3 go onto a branch? How many can you actually fit? If all the rings are on 2 or 3 branches, what goes on the empty ones?

The branches follow a cascading order of the rainbow colours and the tree is designed so that multiple children can choose a colour and work on a branch, or one child can turn the tree as she works on placing the rings.

While the child is matching she is also concentrating on a single task, sorting and organizing - all important early math skills.

You can also discuss the relevance of rings to trees. Do all trees have the same number of rings? How many rings does this tree have in total? These observation skills are important for science later on.

The branches are removable so that as an extension, you can alter the order of the colours and see how that affects the placement of the rings. (Some little ones like to memorize location so this makes it a fun challenge.)

You can also use the tree as a vertical stacker by sliding the rings down over the trunk. As your little one gets older, you can create patterns (red, blue, red, blue) and work on pattern prediction: what colour comes next?

THE IMAGINATION

What is a rainbow tree? Do rainbows grow from it? Does each branch grow a different colour of fruit? Stack the bear cubs and Jeanie and talk about how bears can climb trees and why they do. What other animals climb trees?
The rings can be money tokens, colourful pancakes, giant Cheerios, or bracelets for a doll. Put beads and coins in each ring and create math sequences or equations, or just count from 1 to 10.
Put the large green equilateral triangle from Geometric Mountains and Triangles (https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/619158324/geometric-mountains-and-triangles?ref=shop_home_active_5) on top; does this make a holiday tree?

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A note about wooden toys: Wood is a natural material and as such, has various unique markings. Variations in wood grain, color, knots, or texture are all natural occurrences in these hand-crafted wooden products. These unique variations and markings are proof of quality, not defects. Enjoy the markings that make your toy unique!

Please note that as a result of different screens and devices, the colour of the rings may be off by about 10%. I wish we all had one unified screen but alas, we don't!

Due to the nature of this toy it is not meant for little ones who still explore the world with their mouths. Colour may transfer; this is considered normal.