Helping children learn their shapes

Here are some great ideas to try to help children learn their shapes....

• Hunt for shapes throughout the room
• Pass around a shape and have children look at it and feel it with eyes open and closed
• Have children hunt for shapes in a magazine and paste them on a page
• Have the children make objects using a variety of shapes
• Have ten cutouts of all different shapes and envelopes with that shape in them, kids place shapes into their corresponding envelopes
• Place one of each shape on a magnetic board or flannel board. Have the children look through a basket of shapes and place a shape next to its corresponding match
• Select several sheets of paper and draw one large shape (can also use numerals). Set out 20 inch long shoelaces or string. Invite the children to create the shapes or numerals by placing the laces on top of the shape or numeral on the construction paper sheets.
• Use pieces of masking tape to make large outlines on the floor of a circle, square, triangle, etc. Let the children take turns walking, crawling or hopping around the edges of the shapes. Or ask the child to first identify the shape before walking around it.