Are you looking for a different way to review facts about the United States Presidents? We love reading the Who Was… book series and have been reading some of the ones about US Presidents in preparation for President’s Day. We read them aloud as a family and practice taking notes. (Click here for some fun book marks you could use with this series to take notes.)
I created these sorting mats as a fun, hands on activity for my children to review all the information they have learned. It allows them to use their critical thinking skills and knowledge of US Presidents. My boys love it in our homeschool because it does not involve a pencil (always a win for them!) and they can use the answer key card to check their own work and correct as needed. They always prefer this over mom telling them what to correct!
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The President Sorting Mats
There is a mat and set of facts for each of the 45 presidents and they are grouped in sets of five. Students will sort through the facts and match them to each of the five presidents in that set. There is a picture of each president and the facts include the years of presidency, party affiliation, job right before becoming president, and state of residence. There are also four additional facts per president that include information about their childhood, their adult life before and after presidency and major accomplishments during their presidency.
Which president was shot during the revolutionary war?
Who spoke English as a second language?
Who died in office after eating contaminated food?
Which two presidents have been impeached?
And so much more!
These mats are not only great for homeschools, though. They would work great in a social studies center in the 3rd, 4th or 5th grade. I can even picture 6th graders enjoying the activity.
Purchase the President Sorting Mats
To purchase the mats, head on over to our Teachers Pays Teachers Store. You can purchase all 45 presidents in one discounted set or purchase them in sets of 15.
US President Sorting Mats: Full Set of 45 Presidents
US President Sorting Mats: Presidents 1-15
US President Sorting Mats: Presidents 16-30
US President Sorting Mats: Presidents 31-45
Organize the President Sorting Mats
Once you purchase the mats, you will need to print them in color as they are color coded to help you keep track of which cards belong to each set. I did keep the use of color to a minimum so as to not wear out your printers. If you are concerned about printing them, you may want to consider having The Homeschool Printing Company print them for you.
I like to print them on cardstock and then slide each mat and answer key into a page protector. I do not laminate the cards, but if you plan on using them with several children over several years, you may want to. I then like to store them in an expandable file folder like the one below.
For more ideas for studying US Presidents, check out:
