Teaching Shapes to Preschoolers
Make Learning Fun with Educational Activities
Preschoolers are a very cute group of people. They are interested in trying to learn everything about the world around them. Naturally intelligent at this age, they are quick to grasp whatever they are told. If you repeat some activity with them regularly, they are able to learn it by heart. Here are some great activities for teaching shapes to preschoolers. These activities can make learning fun.
Shape Poems
If you want to teach preschoolers about shapes, one good way of doing it is to help them remember a shape poem, such as:
- CIRCLE, CIRCLE. Never ending. Just like Mother's stack of mending.
- TRIANGLE, TRIANGLE. Has three sides. In the corner she always hides.
- RECTANGLE, RECTANGLE. Two short, two long. Remember this rule and you won't go wrong.
(1998 by Tammy Dryden)
Bread Snack Shapes
Another good idea is to cut bread into shapes and ask them to eat the shapes. You can create a mix of squares and triangles and ask your child to eat the squares first. Not only he or she will eat a lot of bread in this way, but will also learn to differentiate between a square and a triangle. For an added variation, cut cheese into shapes as well to make shape sandwiches.
Cereal Shape Sorting
Have your child sort shapes using brand cereals such as:
- Squares: Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, or Captain Crunch
- Circles: Cheerios, Fruit Loops, or Apple Jacks
- Rectangles: Frosted Mini Wheat
Then use the cereal as a special snack time treat!
Graham Cracker Snack
Use graham crackers at snack time to teach rectangles. Break the graham crackers in half to create squares. Let your child spread their graham crackers with peanut butter, cream cheese, or other tasty treat.
Shape Hunt
Give your child a shape to search for in the home. Give him five minutes to bring you all of the things that are that shape. For instance, an eraser might be a rectangle. When the time is up be sure to praise your child for all of the things the he found.
Shape Collage
You will need safety scissors, a glue stick, construction paper, a marker, and a few old magazines. Before you begin, divide a piece of construction paper into six boxes. Label each box: square, rectangle, circle, oval, triangle, and star. Help your child search for shapes in a magazine that represent any of the six shapes on the construction paper. Cut the pictures out and have your child glue the shapes in their appropriate box. You can substitute the construction paper for poster board, if you want to make a bigger workspace.
Shape BINGO
Use the printable BINGO cards below to play a friendly game of Shape BINGO with your preschooler. They will have fun, and learn at the same time.
Preschoolers only need to know about the basic shapes, such as squares, circles, triangles, etc. They will learn the more complex shapes in the later years of their education. Preschool shape activities can be made fun for your kids with a little imagination on your part. They will not only enjoy the activity itself but will remember the shapes correctly for the rest of their lives.
Other Activities that Make Learning Fun
Teaching Colors to Preschoolers
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