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SHAPES

SHAPE RUBBINGS
Try one or both of these ideas with your group.
On cardboard, draw shapes such as circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles. Squeeze glue from a bottle over the shape outlines and allow it to dry. Then let your children place pieces of paper on top of the shapes and color over them with the sides of crayons to make rubbings of the glue outlines.
Cut familiar shapes out of cardboard and attach them to a tabletop with double-sided tape. Have the children place their papers on top of the shapes and rub over them with crayons.
 
COOPERATIVE SHAPE COLLAGES
Draw a familiar shape, such as a circle, in the middle of a piece of butcher paper. Invite your children to look through magazines and tear or cut out pictures of circular shaped items. Then have them glue the pictures onto the butcher paper around the circle in the center. Let the children make collages for other familiar shapes to display together on a wall or a bulletin board.
 
CREATING WITH SHAPES

From several colors of poster board, cut out assorted sizes of circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles. Store the shapes in a box or a zipper-top bag. Let your children take turns arranging the shapes on a tabletop or on the floor any way they wish to create pictures.
 
TRACE AND MATCH SHAPE GAMES
Cut several familiar shapes out of cardboard to use for these games.
Sit with your children in a circle and lay out the shapes in the middle. While the children close their eyes, trace around one of the shapes on a piece of paper. When the children open their eyes, have them guess which shape matches the traced one. Continue with the remaining shapes.
Using a marker, trace around each shape on a large piece of poster board. Let the children try matching the shapes by placing them on top of the tracings.
 
SHAPE LACING CARDS

Cut familiar shapes out of cardboard and punch holes around the edges. On each shape, tie one end of a long piece of yarn through one of the holes. Wrap tape around the other end of the yarn to form a lacing needle. Set out the shapes and invite your children to lace the yarn in and out of the holes (activity requires supervision).
 
SEARCH AND FIND SHAPES
From one color of construction paper or poster board, cut out matching pairs of shapes, such as circles, squares, triangles, rectangles, ovals, diamonds, and hearts. Divide the shapes into two sets. Hide the shapes from one set in appropriate places and give the shapes from the other set to your children. Then let them walk around the room and search for the matchups.
 
SHAPES, SHAPES, SHAPES

Tune: “Three Blind Mice”
 
Shapes, shapes, shapes; shapes, shapes, shapes.
We love shapes, we love shapes.
There’re squares and circles for me and you,
Triangles, rectangles, ovals, too,
Hearts and diamonds, to name a few.
Yes, we love shapes.
Heather McPhail

 
Hold up the shapes named in the song as you sing.
 
SHAPE SANDWICHES
For snacktime, make sandwiches with a soft filling, such as peanut butter, cream cheese, or tuna, and cut them into familiar shapes. Use a round cookie cutter to fashion circles and a knife to make squares, triangles, and rectangles.