Free Category Sorting Activities for Speech Therapy and Special Education

If you’re looking for free category sorting activities to use with your students, I’ve got 5 different ones for you to download today!

I originally made these for students who were working on their sorting and categorizing skills, and they’re such a handy little resource to have ready in your classroom. There’s nothing fancy or complicated about them. Just print, cut out the pictures, and you’re good to go.

And they’re free, which is always a bonus!

What Are Category Sorting Activities?

Category sorting is exactly what it sounds like. Students are given a selection of pictures and have to work out which group each picture belongs to.

For example, you might have two categories, food and drinks. Students are then given pictures of things like strawberries, milk, and burgers and have to decide where each one goes.

It sounds simple, but there’s actually quite a lot going on when students are doing this. They’re having to recognize the pictures, understand what they are, and then think about how they fit into different groups.

It’s a great way to work on vocabulary, sorting, categorizing, and understanding similarities and differences.

I also love that you can use these activities in so many different ways, depending on the students you’re working with.

What’s Included in These Free Category Sorting Activities?

There are 5 different sorting activities included in this free download.

Each one has two categories, with 5 picture cards for students to sort.

1. Food and Drink

Students sort pictures of food and drinks into the correct categories. There are pictures of eggs, orange juice, milk, a burger, and a strawberry.

2. Sea and Land Animals

This one is always a fun topic to work on! Students sort different animals depending on whether they live in the sea or on land. The pictures include a fish, lion, pig, seahorse, and cat.

3. Green and Blue

A simple color sorting activity where students look at different objects and decide whether they belong in the green or blue category.

4. People and Animals

Students sort pictures into two groups, people and animals. This is a nice one to use when working on understanding different categories and building vocabulary.

5. Bathroom and Bedroom

Students sort everyday household objects depending on which room they belong in. This includes pictures of a bathtub, bed, toilet, sink, and pillow.

I really like this one because it’s easy to extend into conversations about things students might recognize from their own homes.

Download the Free Category Sorting Activities Here

How to Prepare the Sorting Activities

I’ve tried to make these as easy as possible to prepare because I know how much time we already spend printing, cutting, and laminating!

Each activity is on its own page, so you don’t have to print loads of different sheets to put one activity together.

Just print out the page, cut out the 5 picture cards along the bottom, and you’re ready to use it. Personally, I’d recommend laminating everything if you’re planning on using them regularly.

You can also add hook-and-loop dots to the picture cards and sorting boards so students can attach their answers. I love doing this with sorting activities because it means I can keep them in a little folder or task box and bring them out whenever I need them.

You could even store each activity in its own little ziplock bag to stop the pieces from getting mixed up because we all know how quickly those little picture cards can disappear in a classroom!

Using Category Sorting Activities in Speech Therapy

These sorting activities are great for speech therapy sessions because you can work on so much more than just sorting the pictures.

You can use them to practice naming objects, identifying categories, understanding vocabulary, and describing different items.

For example, when working on the food and drink activity, you could ask students questions like:

• What is this?
• Is it something we eat or drink?
• What’s your favorite food?
• Can you think of another drink?
• Where would we find this?

You can also use the pictures to work on similarities and differences.

For students who use AAC, you can model vocabulary on their communication system and give them opportunities to share their answers in whatever way works best for them.

And remember, students don’t have to verbally name every picture to take part in the activity. They can point, select pictures, use AAC, or communicate their choices in other ways.

Using These Activities in Special Education Classrooms

I love having activities like these available for independent work. Once students understand how to complete a sorting activity, you can add them to their regular work systems or task boxes.

They’re also great for small group activities. You can sit with a couple of students, work through the pictures together, and have little conversations about where each one belongs.

And because there are 5 different activities included, you can choose which ones are most appropriate for the skills your students are currently working on.

Some students might be confident sorting between two categories, while others might need a little more support. You can always start by offering fewer picture cards, modeling the activity, or working through it together before encouraging students to try it more independently.

A Few More Ways to Use These Sorting Activities

You don’t have to stick to using these as traditional sorting boards either!

There are a few other ways you can use them.

Turn them into a matching game.

Lay out the category boards and have students take turns choosing a picture card and deciding where it belongs.

Use them for vocabulary practice.

Go through the pictures together and talk about what each one is. You could also ask students to find certain pictures or describe what they can see.

Make it a movement activity.

Place the two category boards on opposite sides of the room and have students take the picture cards to the correct one.

Use real objects alongside the pictures.

If you’re working on food and drinks, you could bring in some toy food or familiar objects to sort before moving on to the picture cards.

Work on answering questions.

You can use the pictures to ask simple questions and encourage students to share what they know about each item.

There are lots of ways to get more use out of these activities without having to create anything extra.

Grab Your Free Category Sorting Activities!

If you’re working on sorting, categorizing, or vocabulary skills with your students, I hope these free activities come in handy. They’re simple to prepare, easy to store, and can be used in lots of different ways throughout the school year.

And with 5 different activities included, you’ve got a nice little selection to get started with. You can download them for free over on my TpT store.

Click Here to Download Your FREE Category Sorting Activities!

If you do use them with your students, I’d love to hear what you think! And if you get any photos of them in action, feel free to tag me on Instagram @teachingautism. I love seeing my resources being used in classrooms!

Happy sorting!

Nikki