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One of These Things Is Different

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  • DOMAIN(S)
    Cognitive Development and General Knowledge (CD)
  • INDICATOR(S)
    CD-MA4.4b
  • AGE GROUP(S)
    48-60 months

Gather several sets of objects where one object is different from the other three: Three square blocks, for example, and one triangle block. Be sure that the items are different in only one attribute. Ask children to find the one that “doesn't belong.” Ask them to justify their choice. After they are successful at this a number of times, create sets where there are two ways items are different. For example, you might have a set of four plastic animals – three dogs and one cat; the cat and two of the dogs are brown and one dog is black. So the answer to the question, “What doesn't belong?” might be EITHER the cat OR it might be the black dog (because it is a different color.)  This can be done in small group.  

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