Kid's Activity: Let's Learn About Shapes
by Carol Jordan
Teaching children to recognize shapes doesn't have to be a matter of drilling with flash cards. Bring creativity and games into the lessons and shapes tend to lend themselves to some of the most creative and exciting learning experiences possible!
Look around the room with your child. Everything is made of different shapes! For instance, a book may have a rectangle for a spine, but its cover is clearly a square. What about that cake that has rectangles of different sizes no matter which way you view it? Even the chocolate chip cookies have circles of different sizes inside and out. Children can learn to pick out these shapes very quickly if you just make a game out of their learning experiences.
Following are a few fun activities that will not only reinforce those important geometry lessons, but will also add many happy and fun-filled memories to your lives.
I Spy!
This easy and fun game has always been a favorite of children every where. Simply say, "I spy with my two eyes something that is ______" and choose a shape. Then have your child look around the room, the car, the store, or wherever you are to find something the shape that you named. This can also be done with colors, letters or numbers!
Triangle Puzzle
Create your own triangle puzzle easily and inexpensively and then watch as your child not only learns to recognize a new geometric shape, but also learns some important problem solving skills.
Materials:
- One large sheet of poster board
- Markers
- Scissors (strong scissors that can cut the poster board)
- Ruler or other straight-edge
Directions:
- Draw a large triangle on the poster board using the ruler to be sure it is even and straight.
- Using the ruler divide the large triangle into 10 smaller triangles (like a pyramid of triangles) of equal size.
- Using the markers decorate the whole triangle (the large one) with different shapes that overlap the lines of the smaller triangles and create a simple design or pattern.
- Cut out each triangle and discard the extra poster board.
Your child can now use the small triangles to re-create the larger triangle by matching the smaller shapes that were drawn on as decoration. S/he can also use the small triangles to create other designs.
**This can also be done with squares, diamonds, and rectangles. The activity does not work well with circles.
Shape-Mobile Collages
Cut pictures of different types of vehicles out of magazines and have your child identify different shapes s/he sees in each vehicle. Discuss the different shapes and how they go together to create different things such as trains, cars, trucks, planes, and hot air balloons. For more challenge, glue each vehicle comprised of mostly circles on a circle; of mostly rectangles on a rectangle; of mostly squares on a square; of mostly triangles on a triangle. Then attach each shape to a dowel with various lengths of string.
Extra activity: Have your child help you cut out shapes of different colors and sizes. Use these shapes to create your own vehicles. Discuss how specific parts of the vehicles have to be certain shapes (wheels have to be round so they will roll well). Experiment with shapes to see if they will sufficiently do the job that one shape already does in an existing vehicle.
Shapes in Nature
Prepare for a nature walk by packing a bag with a sketch book and crayons (or pencils, markers, or paints). As you walk along talk about the things you see and hear (guess what might make the different sounds you hear). Choose a spot that is comfortable and provides a good view of the area. This will be your point of inspiration.
Explain to your child that there are many shapes to be found in nature (or in the city if that's where you live). Point out a few that you see (rectangles: tree trunks or sky scrapers; circles: tree tops and the sun or moon). Begin drawing what you see using basic shapes (circles, ovals, squares, rectangles, triangles) instead of fancy, curvy lines. After you each finish your drawing share what you saw and the shapes that created each thing.
Shape Lessons for Younger Learners
