Seasons: What Does Not Belong?

Sixteen pictures in four numbered rows run down this kindergarten seasons page. In each row three pictures come from one season and one comes from somewhere else, and the child crosses out the one that does not belong. On this print the first row shows a snowboarder, an ice skater, a child on a sled and a swimming pool; the second an autumn tree, a bundle of wheat, a basket of apples and a pair of flip-flops; the third a tulip, a skier, a tulip bud and a duckling; the fourth a tent, a surfboard, a lamb and a swimmer. No words appear on the page, and no season signs, so the child works from the pictures alone.

Finding the intruder is the reverse of the which season is it face: there the child looks for what three pictures share, here for the one that breaks the pattern. It is a classification task first and a seasons task second, and it can be done by a child who has not yet named a single season, which makes it a good first look at how much a child already knows. The teacher asks for the reason behind each cross. A child who crosses out the lamb because it is an animal, not because it belongs to Spring, has sorted by the wrong rule.

One color sheet in portrait. Let the child name the pictures aloud before crossing anything out, since a mislabeled picture produces a confident wrong answer. The four seasons sort page is the gentler introduction with the signs and names printed, the which season is it page is the same rows turned around, and the season wheel moves on to order.