Shapes, shapes and shapes!

There are shapes and colors all around us – in the sky, in the sea, on the ground, and in our homes. Teaching young children the name of shapes is easy! Simply talk about shapes as you work and play through the day. Typically, by the time a child is three years old, they can begin to recognize and identify shapes. Young children feel successful when they can correctly identify basic geometric shapes (circle, square, triangle and rectangle). Here’re some other activities you can do that reinforce shape identification.

Shape Walk
Choose a shape. Try to find as many things of that shape as possible during a walk around the block.

Developmentally: you can also do this activity when you visit the grocery store or the doctor’s office. It is a great way to keep children involved in learning and it requires no special materials.

Sponge Printing
Cut sponges into circle, square, and triangle shapes. Pour tempera paints into shallow dishes. Let your child sponge print on paper (you can use brown paper grocery bags). Encourage your child to talk about the colors and shapes he/she prints.

Developmentally: younger children may have a more difficult time grasping the sponge with their fingers. If this is the case you can also hot glue an empty spool of thread to the sponge. This will make it easier for younger children to hold.

Food Shapes
Cut your child’s sandwiches into a different shape each day. Cut a square one day and triangles the next. Use a round cookie cutter for a circle sandwich.

Developmentally: Eating is the one thing young children feel they have control over, so they are very aware when something they eat is different. They usually are amused and surprised when something unexpected like this happens.

Treasure Hunt
 How many circles, squares, and triangles can your child find in the kitchen? In the toy box? In the bedroom? Let your child sort items by shape.

Developmentally: Young children love a challenge so this type of activity is usually very successful. Also, this is a movement activity. Children are allowed to be actively involved in it, which is the key to success. Give young children freedom to move and freedom to make choices.

Bag of Shapes
Cut cardboard triangles, squares, circles, hearts, stars, and other shapes. Put them into a bag (a pillowcase works well). You might also add a square piece of fabric (backed with cardboard), round buttons, an orange, some heart-shaped items, and other objects. Have your child close his eyes, reach into the bag, and remove an object. Can your child identify the shape by touch alone?

Developmentally: this is a great activity to use during quiet times or transition times. It also allows children to use their sense of touch – which they are very comfortable with.

Shape of the Day
 It’s fun for children to focus on a particular shape for a day. Celebrate circles, for example, by making muffins in round tins, or counting how many circles you can find in one room in your house.

Developmentally: the success of this type of activity depends on your involvement. If you make a point of participating, the children will too!

Wood Construction
Collect small scraps of wood in various shapes. Let your child glue the scraps together to create an interesting shaped structure. Allow it to dry overnight. Your child can paint and decorate (using empty thread spools, cloth, yarn) the structure. Display the creation in a special place so that your child knows that you are proud of his/her efforts.

Developmentally: In Child Development terms, this project is “open-ended”, which means there is no particular way it should look when it is completed. Open-ended projects are important for young children because they allow a child to really get into the process. This is when learning takes place.

Making Shape Pictures
Cut different shapes from construction paper. Then, sit with the children and arrange the shapes into a picture. Some of the things you can make: a house, a cat, a car or a bug.

Developmentally: This project can be adapted for different ages of children. Younger children may be content simply gluing different shapes onto a piece of paper, or may even enjoy following a pattern that you’ve traced for them. Older children can either complete more elaborate patterns or may enjoy creating their own shape picture from their imagination.

Secret Envelope
 Pick out an assortment of small, flat objects like pennies, buttons, keys, paper clips, toothpicks, etc. Then ask your child/ren if they can name the objects. Then slip each one into an envelope and close it. Give the envelopes to the children and let them feel what’s inside. Can they guess what it is? Using the crayons, the children can rub over the object until a shape appears. Now can they guess? You can repeat the activity by switching the objects from envelope to envelope. This time, the children can do their crayoning on the other side.

Developmentally: This type of activity works well for older children because of the small motor skills necessary to rub crayon on the paper.

Shape Boards
Using a hot glue gun, attach small household items to a sturdy piece of cardboard. Pick items of different shapes like boxes, a toy car, a lego piece or a sponge.

Developmentally: This activity works well for very young children. The hot glue is a very effective way of attaching the objects to the cardboard. Also, using objects familiar to children is a very effective way of teaching because children can relate to what they are seeing.

Matching Shoes
Collect different size and types of shoes for you and the children to talk about and examine. Then mix up the shoes in a large laundry basket. Now give the children a chance to find two shoes that match. Once all the shoes are matched, the children could try arranging the shoes from smallest to largest or putting all the big shoes in one place and the small ones in another.

Another idea is to trace around each child’s foot and let the children match their shoes to their paper tracings, or even cutting out the tracings and putting them in their shoes.

Book Suggestion

  • “Have You Seen My Cat?” by Eric Carle
  • “Shapes” by Grand Dreams Books, Inc.
  • “Big Bird’s Guessing Game About Shapes” by Sesame Workshop
  • “Brainy Baby Shapes and Colors” by The Brainy Baby Company
  • “Colors and Shapes” by Mary Novick and Sybel Harlin
  • “It Looked Like Spilt Milk” by Charles G. Shaw
  • “It’s Mine!” by Leo Leoni
  • “Moon Rope: Un lazo a la luna” by Lois Ehlert

Thank you to Lisa Albert from the EPTSS Division for this month's activity!

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