Author: GHoffman

Shapes
Language & Literacy
School Readiness Kits
This kit was created and assembled by the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives in collaboration with the University of Kentucky Human Development Institute with funding from the School Ready Libraries Grant ; adapted from the work of the Grant County Public Library.

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Language & Literacy: Shapes
Goals
Recognizes and describes shapes
Sort/classify or compare and order objects by shape, size and color
Explore the relationship among two-dimensional figrures and three dimensional objects1
These goals were taken from Building a Strong Foundation for School Success: Kentucky’s Early Childhood Standards https://kidsnow.ky.gov/families/readiness/Documents/early-childhood-standards.pdf

January 2018
Page 1

Write
Suggested Activities
In a tub of sand or shaving cream have children create a shape and let them give you clues so you can guess what shape it is.
Give children crayons or markers and let them draw or trace shapes.
Place shapes in a sensory bin and have the children use tongs to pull them out.
Have children cut out different shapes.
Create shapes on a flannel board with painters tape and have children trace the shape with their finger.
School Readiness Asides to Parents and Caregivers
Giving preschoolers lots of practice with shapes helps them solidify their understanding of the two-dimensional structures (such as squares) and three dimensional structures (such as cubes)
Shapes begin to teach the concepts of “same” and “different.” After learning shapes, children can start to group objects together, which will become a part of learning how to count, add, and subtract.

January 2018
Page 3

Read
Suggested Activities
Read a story about shapes and have the children make each shape either by themselves or with a friend.
Read a book about buildings and have the children build their own building. As they put each block on, talk about it’s shape and take a picture of the completed building and all your construction workers.
Read books that children can “draw” the illustrations with their finger. They can outline the numbers.
School Readiness Asides to Parents and Caregivers
Translating a building from a picture to a block building helps children understand that many things in their environment are three dimensional not two dimensional as they see it on the page.

January 2018
Page 2

Sing
What Shape is this? Sung to: "The Muffin Man"
Do you know what shape this is, What shape this is, what shape this is? Do you know what shape this is I'm holding in my hand?
Square Shape Song Sung to: "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" Put your square shapes in the air, Hold it high and keep it there. Put your square shape on your back, Now please lay it on your lap. Put your square shape on your toes, Now please hold it by your nose. Hold your square shape in your hand, Now will everyone please stand. Wave your square shape at the door, Now please lay it on the floor. Hold your square shape and jump, jump, jump, Now throw your square shape way, way up.

January 2018
Page 4

Talk
Suggested Activities
Talk about the two dimensional shapes (circle, square, etc) but also talk about the three dimensional shapes (sphere, cube, etc.). See how many two and three dimensional shapes that the children can find.
Take a shapes walk around your building or the neighborhood and let the children tell you which shapes they see. See how many two and three dimensional shapes that the children can find.
Create a word chart with children having the shape and the name of the shape written at the top of the page. Have the children list things that are that shape.
School Readiness Asides to Parents and Caregivers
By adding words such as cube and sphere you are building a child’s vocabulary.
By giving children the opportunity to find shapes in their everyday world, you are teaching that math is all around us.

January 2018
Page 5

January 2018
Page 7

Play
Suggested Activities
Draw some shapes on the sidewalk or put down strips of painters tape on the carpet and have children do specific actions while they are standing on specific shapes (turn in a circle while standing in a circle, jump three times when in a square, etc.)
Play shapes bingo either using a premade game or make one yourself.
Create shapes puzzles using popsicle sticks. Tape the sticks together first then draw the shape with half on one stick and the other half the other stick. After you make multiple puzzles mix them all up together and have the children match shapes.
School Readiness Asides to Parents and Caregivers
By having children stand on shapes and do activities, they are not only practicing gross motor skils but also shape recognition.
Popsicle stick puzzles are easy to make and can be easily replaced if a piece goes missing

January 2018
Page 6

Citation Page
ALIGNMENT OF STANDARDS AND BENCHMARKS. (2003, October 1). Retrieved March 07, 2017, from https://kidsnow.ky.gov/families/readiness/Documents/early-childhood-standards.pdf

January 2018
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January 2018
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January 2018
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January 2018
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January 2018
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