Shape Graphing

The kids brought items from home to sort and graph by shape.  It is always great to combine home and school learning as well as use everyday objects for better retention.  

G is for Geo Boards

Today we did free play with the geo boards and came up with our own designs.  Sometimes I used these to create letters or shapes we are working on at the time.  They are always great for fine motor development.  It's  a pretty tedious job getting the rubber bands on and off and takes some concentration skills as well! 

Just Some Shapes

We did some graphing.  I had the kids sort & graph the squares and rectangles into the right column and then we counted and compared. 

We played a game "get in shape" .  Basically I called out a command such as crawl to the triangle, or hop like a bunny to the crescent and the kids practiced listening and following directions to get to the correct shape.  

All about Triangles

October is our shapes month and so we have focused on reviewing and learning some basic shapes.  For triangle day I had the kids march around the room and when they heard me strike the musical triangle they would stop and go find a triangle.  I had them "hidden" all over the room (basically in plain sight for 3 year olds).  I used orange and black for Halloween.  It would be fun to sort them by colors as well.  

Number & Shape Beanbag Toss

We reviewed our numbers and shapes this week by doing a fun beanbag toss game.  This looks like a fun one we could use for a twister type game in the future as well.  I made this using a dollar tree shower curtain and traced the circles using plates as a template. 

Play dough Mats-Shapes

Remember these shape mats?  We used them last week for sorting, and now we got to use them again as play dough mats.  This is a very hands on and fun way to learn all about different shapes.  Play dough is almost always popular with preschool aged children!   Again, you can find the mats HERE. 

Flying Ghosts

These little ghosts had a fun time "flying" around the room finding shapes.  I would call out a shape which were on the floor all around the room and then have the kids hold their ghost and "fly" them around the room.  As a bonus they had a sucker treat inside they could eat or take home for later. 

Square VS Rectangle

To help the kids learn the difference between a square and a rectangle I verbally told them and visually demonstrated how a square has four equally length sides and how a rectangle has 2 long and 2 short sides.  I then let the children make their own for a more tactile experience.  I used stirring straws and gave them several whole ones and several cut in half.  

Graphing Shapes

Today's "I spy" activity involved the children bringing in an object that was their favorite shape from home that we could put on our giant graph.  I challenged them by having them graph it by how many sides it had.  We graphed by whether it had more than 3 sides, less than 3 sides or  exactly 3 sides.  Every child was able to count and figure this out which I was very happy about!

Shape Sorting

 For our "I spy" activity this day I brought in a big bag of different shaped objects and had the kids sort them onto my shape cards that I found HERE.  These cards also double as play dough mats.

Halloween and Shape Sensory Tub

I thought I would combine the Halloween theme with shapes to make playing with shapes a little more fun.  I cut out foam sparkle shapes from the Halloween colors orange, purple & green and then added scoops and cups to play with all in a tub full of black beans. The kids loved it, what more can I say!

Shape Sorting

Since we are reviewing and learning shapes right now we did a shape sorting file folder game.  I left this in our learning game basket for the kids to use during free play time if they wanted. 

Traffic Lights

Paper Mache Traffic lights (that even light up in the window).  I chose this project because this week part of our theme was Emergency vehicles and the circle shape.  Since the lights are made of 3 circles and it related to the vehicles it was the perfect match for an art project.  Cute and great for following directions (getting colors in proper spot) & fine motor control (gluing, picking up small pieces of paper and sticking them on). 

Shapes Sensory

During the month of October we review shapes.  So for this tub I added cut straws for a fun new texture mixed with shape manipulatives and tongs, cups, and bowls.  Don't you love the all the Halloween get up from our Halloween dress up collection.  

C is for Cat in the Hat

For snacktime today we got to make some uh..healthy...little cat in the cat hats.  I saw these on Pinterest also and thought they were so cute we just had to make them. 

We also played a bunch of Cat in the Hat games including Fox in a Box, A rhyming game, and Shape quiz game.

We also painted up some cute cat in the hat crafts found HERE. 

Get in "Shape"

We combined fitness  & gross motor skill development with learning our shapes this month.   for this game I would call out a shape and a simple command such as skip to the crescent or hop on one foot to the octagon.  It also served as a great way to get out some wiggles! 

Size and Shape Sorting

For our fire safety unit we sorted fire extinguishers by size and for our community helpers unit we sorted the clothespin shapes to match the proper picture on the shape wheel. A BIG thanks for "Grandma Mrs. Brooksby" for substitute teaching for me last week and carrying out all these fun activities!  You can find both these game packs at homeschoolcreations.com  I love this website for cute and fun packets.

Shapes Clank Can

Right now our academic focus is all about shapes.  I like to teach in a hands on way as much as possible so I used another clank can I found here.

Circle Time

My favorite way to teach about the circle shape is hands down the Hula Hoop and I think the kids would agree!  We also played ring around the rosies and a shape quiz game both of which produced lots of happy children!