Shape pictures is a shape activity that your preschooler will treasure!

Shapes are all around us! They are in our kitchen, cars, and on the street signs. Shapes literally make up the world we live in. Shape pictures take commonly seen objects and show how objects are formed based on a combination of shapes.

Let’s get our preschoolers to see the shapes in everyday objects; with this shape activity, they will play repeatedly.

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Shape activities must be kept hands-on.

We want children to take new information and fit it into their prior knowledge.

In this shape activity, we want our preschoolers to take multiple shapes and see how they come together to form one picture.

This hands-on learning approach helps with:

• Patterns
• Problem-solving
• Creative thinking
• Questioning
• Comparing
• Storytelling
• Explaining
• Constructing

When we set children up with intentional play prompts, watching learning through play unfold and the ideas they create on their terms are impressive.

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Let’s get this shape activity set up!

To begin, I read Mouse Shapes with my boys. We read it multiple times before playing our shape activity.

This reading and rereading will build fluency and repetition. Your child will begin to understand the storyline and engage in active listening.

Sometimes, we try to throw the entire activity at preschoolers and expect them to understand our objective. Let’s build some background knowledge first.

RELATED: Looking for easy setups and fun ideas? Check out our activity cards! 

Here’s how to put shapes in play activities

First, tape your white paper to the tabletop and place your 2D shapes to the left of the paper.

For two-year-olds, begin by tracing the shapes needed for different pictures. This tracing will give them a little guidance in seeing how shapes come together to form objects. 

For older children, allow them to be in charge of what they create. They may use the book Mouse Shapes, and they may not!

Shape picture activity supplies

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• White paper roll – this is the one we use! 
• 2D shapes – also called pattern blocks

Why is it important for preschoolers to play with 2D shapes?

By Kindergarten, children using the Common Core will correctly name shapes regardless of their orientations or overall size. Children are also asked to model shapes in the world by building shapes from components (e.g., sticks and clay balls) and drawing shapes.

Let’s expose our preschoolers to these higher standards now through play-based learning!

When playing this shape activity, keep this in mind.

The objective of this game is to manipulate shapes, not necessarily to copy the photos. Your preschooler is the guide, and time for open-ended play is essential for learning to expand.

For my preschooler, he wanted to begin with the images in the book.

The second time we played this shape activity, the play took on ideas from his creativity.

Here are even more ways to add shapes into play:

• Fly in your shapes
• Match shapes
• Explore area and volume
• Design pumpkin faces
• Create a maze with cylinders
• Draw shapes
• Paint shapes
• Cutting shapes from artwork
• Playing with blocks
• Locating shapes outside
• Recognizing how many sides and corners

Which shape activity will you try first?