Sort items by size with your child. Provide him with two separate containers and a variety of objects. Ask him to put the large objects in one container and the small objects in another. For example, you might give him large stuffed animals and small action figures. He would put the stuffed animals into a larger bin and the action figures into a shoe box.
Ask your child to sort shapes. If you don't have a shape sorting toy, make your own activity by cutting several shapes out of construction paper. Cut hearts, circles, and squares in a variety of sizes. Then ask your child to put the hearts in one pile, the circles in another, and the squares in a third. You might even have her glue the shapes to paper to make her own shape collages.
Put a pile of socks in front of your child, and ask him to put them into separate piles based on color. Have him put the white socks in one pile, brown socks in another, and black socks in a third. Now you're on your way to getting your socks folded, and your child has learned to sort by color.
The TV show "Sesame Street" used to have a skit, and maybe it still does, where the viewers would have to identify an item that was out of place for some reason in a group of four things. Help your child play this game at home: give her a set of four items, three of which have something in common. Have her find the item that is out of place in the set. For instance, you could give her three fruits and one vegetable, three shoes and one sock, or three soft items and one hard one.
NickJr.com has a variety of sorting math games online. Your kids can enjoy participating in sorting activities with the help of their favorite Nick Jr. characters. Play a mermaid matching game with the Backyardigans, or play "Eat it or Wear it" with Pinky Dinky Doo and her brother, Tyler.