

Most of these activities can be adapted to teach either basic shapes (e.g., circle, square, triangle) or more advanced shapes (e.g., ellipse, parallelogram, hexagon). Over time I have shared a number of activities that can be used to teach shapes. Point out that a tire is round like a circle, the television is shaped like a rectangle, and the slice of cheese your child is eating is shaped like a square.Ĭonsider providing your child with toys that teach shapes through playful means. It is best if you can teach shapes in a organic ways. When teaching shapes, start with the most common shapes (squares, triangles, circles, and rectangles) before introducing tricker shapes like diamonds/rhombuses, hexagons, and stars. However, by age 3 most children have developed an understanding of shape and can name several of the most common geometric shapes (e.g., circle, square, triangle). It takes most children a few months longer to grasp the concept of shapes than to grasp the concept of color.

#TODDLER SHAPE AND COLOR GAMES SKIN#
If a person’s skin turns red, they may have spent too much time in the sun. If a person’s skin has blue marks, it may mean they have suffered a bruise. Colors can also tell us about our health. For example, we use red in our culture to indicate ‘danger’ or ‘stop,’ such as with red stop lights and red stop signs. Health and safety: Colors sometimes give us information about health and safety. Sorting and classifying: As children learn to identify colors and shapes, they can sort and classify objects around them based on these attributes. This opens up new and exciting avenues for verbal communication.

Verbal communication: Teaching children about colors and shapes is a great way to give them some vocabulary for describing the world around them. Children will notice that a red flower is different from a yellow one, and that a round bread roll has a different shape than a square slice of bread.

And the cars, flowers, and street signs around us come in many different colors.Īs it turns out, colors and shapes are a key way that we describe and categorize our world. That is what we see all around us!Ī house has a different shape from a tree, which has a different shape from a person or a banana. So let’s start by stating the fact that our world is literally made up of colors and shapes. Colors and Shapes: Foundational Skills for Young Children
