Overview

Classification questions evaluate children’s ability to identify what belongs to a group of objects, either figures or pictures. It requires knowledge of basic vocabulary and understanding of similarities and differences in order to categorize the items.

Some of the common categories that the child should be familiar with include: “size”, “shape”, “speed”, “soft/hard”, “short/tall”, “quantity”, “weight”, “color”, “cold/hot”.

Example:

Which picture does not belong?

Tips and Tricks

• Before starting on any section, find a quiet place with no distractions. Make sure your child is sitting comfortably.
• Provide positive and encouraging feedback for correct answers and supportive feedback with explanations for incorrect answers. Avoid any negative feedback, comments, or gestures as this may discourage your child.
• As the child looks through the available answer choices, ask to describe what is in the boxes. For example if the child sees a ball, add follow up questions, e.g. what color is it? What shape is it? How big is it? Do the same for every answer choice so they can recognize the patterns. It is more important for children to understand and grasp all the concepts rather the memorizing that a ball is round. Once you have discussed every box, try to guide the child into figuring out what most items have in common.
• Incorporate classification questions throughout your child’s day. Ask to categorize, what goes on the table, or what is on dinner plate. The supermarket is an endless classification play box. Consider incorporating classification with the toys, what better way to classify cars from dolls, slow cars from fast cars, superheroes from villains, soft toys from hard toys, etc.