Teaching Children About Shapes in Daily Life

Shape recognition is an important part of learning for young children. To avoid confusion, it is best to concentrate on the basic shapes one by one before mixing them together. Circles, squares, rectangles and triangles are the best shapes to start with and can be followed by more complex outlines such as ovals, hexagons and octagons.

Looking for Shapes in the Home

Every home is filled with objects that have a basic shape. Look for things like shoeboxes, pictures, mirrors, bath plugs, clocks, televisions and table mats. Choose a shape and talk to your child about it. Count how many sides it has and then play a game where you help the child find five objects that are the same shape.

Looking for Shapes in Food

Children normally love the idea of looking for shapes in food. These often occur naturally or you can help nature by cutting potatoes and carrots into squares and triangles. Breakfast cereals come in some interesting shapes and circular foods like pies and pizzas can be cut into sections. Look for cubes in meat, diced vegetables and ice blocks, and triangles in samoosas. Eggs are oval and jars of peanut butter and jam have circular lids. Ask the child to create a house or face by using foods of various shapes and sizes.

Looking for Shapes in Toys

Many toys are designed to teach shapes to young children. These include shape sorters where shapes are posted through a window with the corresponding outline. Construction sets may be a combination of squares, rectangles and triangles.

Looking for Shapes on the Streets

Shapes are easy to spot when driving through town or the countryside. Look at road signs and point out the different shapes to your child. Posters in windows, store signage and flower beds all have clear outlines that a child can recognize. Car wheels, movie screens and paving blocks are also good examples of shapes.

Allow Children to Make their own Shapes

Supply stencils and help children to trace shapes onto coloured card or construction paper. If they are old enough, they can cut them out themselves using blunt-nosed scissors. Allow the child to experiment with the shapes and suggest he joins them to make a ship, a house, a car or a face. This will often give them hours of entertainment.

Parents can introduce shapes to preschool children as part of daily life. This is easy to do and most children find it entertaining and fun. Shapes are the basis of letters and drawing and are also important in mathematics. A child who is confident in identifying shapes has a good foundation for further learning.

Reference:
365 Fun-filled Learning Activities you can do with Your Child, Mary Weaver, Adams Media Corporation, 1999