Learning the shapes can be boring, but kindergarten shapes activities give you a chance to breathe life into math!
Kids at this age struggle more than others to do things that are boring and repetitive
So the hard part is motivating kids to learn by having fun
Kindergarten shapes activities are so varied that there have to be versions that your child will love!
How Do You Teach Shapes in Kindergarten?
Learning the shapes is a huge foundational piece for kindergarten math.
Just like most math, learning the shapes depends on repetition
But that doesn’t mean it needs to be boring!
You can use posters around the room with the shapes and their names
Play games
Use stencils for artwork
Use real like shapes as examples
Practice scissor work
And more!
Just like anything super repetitive, making the practice fun is essential to a great learning experience!
In kindergarten, children learn the foundational 2D shapes
Children need to identify the shapes’ names regardless of their position
So they are recognizing a triangle if it is:
- Big
- Small
- Wide
- Thin
- Upside down
- Sideways
- Or a mix of the above
Same for the other shapes
Another thing you can do is add posters around the room
I know that when I was a kid, I looked at the posters on the walls countless times everyday
That helps students learn!!
You can build math skills by talking about what makes shapes unique.
You can count the corners in a triangle and talk about how there are always 3
Practice writing skills by drawing the 3 sides on dotted lines too!
Or with stencils!
Get artistic with handmade shape puppets
In addition, what kid doesn’t like movie time?
Add some fun videos to the mix too!
What Activities Can You Do With Shapes?
There are so many shapes activities!
The only limit is you imagination!
You can make cut and paste crafts (creating items out of shapes)
Or use water balloons by shouting a shape and having your child throw a water balloon at a cardboard shape
You can use online game
Or you can use offline games
The possibilities really are endless!!!
How Do You Make Teaching Shapes Fun?
Making learning fun is individual, but there are some common elements!
Most Kindergarten students love to make a mess, get their hands in, or do things that are unique.
Here are 9 examples of Kindergarten shapes Activities that students will LOVE
- Create a Riddle book
Riddle books are so much fun for everyone!
Adding the crafting and the flap to the design makes these even better
Since the riddles are already premade, all you have to do is create yours with your kids
You can also just use them as inspiration to make your own!!
- Connect the dots
Connect the dots is a great way to help kids learn their shapes
This is a good step to take after tracing
Create dots where the shape vertices are and have your child connect them with the shape’s sides
This doesn’t work well for circles but it works great with all the other shapes!
- Create art out of shapes (like turning a rectangle into a house)
This can be a fun independent game or a collaboration between students
Draw a shape onto paper or give them a cut out shape…
Then have the child use that shape to make something else!
A circle can turn into a basket ball…
Or an owl!
A rectangle can turn into a house…
Or a rocket!
This is a great chance for students to use creativity since the only requirement is using the shape
Similar to the last one, you can have your child create something out of shapes
But this time, give them many cut out versions of the shapes to glue together
The example in the link shows a rocket
They started with a rectangle..
Then added circles for windows
And triangles for the rest of the shape
And created their own rocket!
You can either give them full creativity or give them an assignment
- Coloring pages
Coloring pages can be helpful in learning any subject!
They are just as effective when creating kindergarten shapes activities
You can have them just color the shapes, or have the shapes create a picture to color!
- “Find the shape” game
This one is active!
That means it is a great way to get those wiggles out AND do some kindergarten shapes activities
To play, you:
- Choose a shape and tell your child
- Then your child needs to find something in the house that matches the shape
- And repeat!
Super easy…
But super fun!
Add a timer to make it more intense later.
- Shapes bingo
Most kids love bingo!
It is more fun when there are multiple children to play
But you can play with them if it is just you and your child!
Click here to get free premade printable bingo cards!
- Water balloon shapes game
This is another fun active game!
Fill some water balloons with either water or paint.
Then have the kids throw them at cardboard shapes
You can shout of the shape or they can.
It gives kids a chase to practice while being active and messy!
You can also use caulk and draw the shapes onto concrete like this example
Digital coloring books have gotten more fun!
I made one special for my kindergarten shapes activities
Students can choose the color they want..
Then paint the shapes and pictures!
It is fun and interactive which makes it a great tool to learn the shapes!
PS. I have a few digital activities for shapes. Getting the bundle is cheaper and you will get any new ones I add for free!
At the end of the day, Kindergarten shapes activities just need to be fun for your child.
This means something a little different for every child, but part of the fun is experimenting!
Keep trying new things together and the learning will last forever