Having different ways to utilize shapes to teach kindergarten is one of the first steps in helping my students to better understand geometry, spatial reasoning, and how the world around them is structured.
What makes teaching shapes fun is the fact that shapes are everywhere! I always strive to introduce shapes in creative, hands-on ways to teaching shapes to your kindergarteners for kindergarteners.
If you’re looking for ideas to bring shapes to life in your classroom, you’re in the right place!
Here are some awesome ideas to know and love to use shapes to teach kindergarten and pre-k students.
Benefits of learning about shapes:
By using shapes to teach kindergarten, students will
- Develop problem-solving skills by recognizing patterns.
- Understand spatial awareness and visual perception.
- Build vocabulary as they learn to describe shapes and their attributes.
- Understand connections between classroom learning and real-world objects.
1. Real-life Examples:
Have your students identify the shapes around the classroom or homeschool room. This helps students make a real world connection by connecting the lesson to the students’ everyday environment. Take a classroom walk or go outside to find shapes in windows, signs, toys, or natural objects. The students will be able to connect abstract concepts to tangible examples. Here are some examples to shapes to teach kindergarten:
Square
- Window panes
- Checkerboard squares
- Post-it notes
- Picture frames
Circle
- Clocks
- Wheels
- Plates
- Frisbees
Oval
- Eggs
- Balloons
- Mirror frames
- Face shapes in portraits
Star
- Starfish
- Christmas tree stars
- Sheriff badges
- Stars in the night sky
Triangle
- Traffic yield signs
- Pizza slices
- Pyramids
- Roof gables
Heart
- Valentine’s Day cards
- Heart-shaped jewelry
- Cookie cutters
- Heart-shaped leaves
Rectangle
- Books
- Doors
- Phones and tablets
- Dollar bills
Hexagon
- Honeycombs
- Nuts and bolts (hexagonal heads)
- Stop signs in some countries (e.g., Canada)
- Tiled floors
Pentagon
- The Pentagon (U.S. Department of Defense building)
- Home plate in baseball
- Certain gemstones and decorative designs
- Some coasters
Diamond
- Kite shapes
- Playing card suits
- Diamond-shaped road signs
- Jewelry cuts
2. Get Moving
Use shapes to teach kindergarten by getting students active and involved.
Draw large shapes on the floor with tape or chalk. Have students trace the shapes with their fingers or walk along the edges. This activity is a fun way to reinforce the differences between shapes and encourage physical movement.
Students will be able to compose shapes and compare shapes with this activity made to teach shapes to your kindergarteners.
3. Use the Shapes Worksheet Packet
The Shapes Worksheet Packet includes activities that make learning shapes fun and interactive! I created this ultimate packet to help students learn and identify shapes.
Here are some of the components in the shapes worksheet packet:
- Shape Tracing Pages: Help students develop fine motor skills while reinforcing shape recognition.
- Sorting Activities: Challenge students to group shapes by type, size, or color.
- Matching Games: Connect shapes to real-world objects, like matching a circle to a pizza or a rectangle to a door.
- Drawing and Coloring: Encourage creativity by letting students design their own pictures using shapes.
These worksheets are great for independent practice, center activities, or even homework.
4. Shape Art Project
This is a project you can have your students do at home as a take home project.
Encourage students to create shape-based art projects. They can design houses, animals, or abstract collages using paper cutouts of different shapes.
5. Scavenger Hunt
Prep your classroom for a scavenger hunt! Hide objects around the room or make a list of object shapes that are already in the room. Create a list of clues such as “Find something shaped like a triangle,” or “Find three circles in the room.” “Find something with 4 equal sides”.
This game is more fun when students work in teams.
6. Shape Sort Relay
Have your students identify and sort shapes into the correct categories to build recognition and classification skills.
You can use the shapes packet to print out cutouts of the shapes. You can print in various colors too!
Place baskets or labeled bins around the room for each shape. Once you divide the class into teams, have each student one at a time run to pick up a shape and place it in the correct bin.
7. Shape Hopscotch
This activity uses shapes to teach kindergarteners and also gets them moving.
Draw or tape out hopscotch and tape the large cut-outs of the shapes on the floor.
Your students will love this! You can even make it even more fun like hop on one foot to the triangle, etc.
8. Shape Snacks
I love this activity because who doesn’t love a little snack!
In this activity, students will be able to identify and sort shapes. You’ll need to provide students with a variety of snack items and asked them to sort the snacks onto the correct part of their paper.
Circle Snacks
- Cookies
- Pepperoni slices
- Fruit or veggies cut into circles
- Bagels (mini bagels)
- Rice cakes
- Cereal in the shape of circles
Square Snacks
- Cheese slices
- Crackers
- Sandwiches
- Cheese It’s
Triangle Snacks
- Tortilla chips
- Pizza slices
- Watermelon slices
Rectangle Snacks
- Granola bars
- Carrot sticks
- Pretzel rods
- Graham crackers
Oval Snacks
- Grapes
- Almonds
- Mini sasuages
Star Snacks, heart snacks, hexagon snacks, pentagon snacks, diamond snacks
- use a shaped cookie cutter
8. Virtual Game
This game is fun an interactive and my students really loved it!
I hope you enjoyed these ideas about the best ways to use shapes to teach kindergarten!
Don’t forget to check out the shapes packet with over 75 pages of low/no prep activities to help your students meet learning objectives about shapes!
Other Posts You’ll Love:
- Teaching With Pre K Fruits and Vegetables Activities to Spark Imagination
- Making Composting Understandable For Kids
- Best Earth Day Tracing Worksheets: How To Practice Handwriting
Leave a Reply