RECTANGLES

RECTANGLE MURAL
Try one of these ideas with your group.

	Collect rectangular sponges and pour tempera paint into shallow containers. Invite your children to dip the sponges into the paint and press them onto a rectangular piece of butcher paper to make a print mural.
	Cut rectangles of various sizes out of colored paper, including gift-wrap paper. Give the rectangles to your children. Let them make a collage mural by gluing the shapes onto a rectangular piece of butcher paper.

RECTANGLE CREATIONS Help your children do one or more of these activities Holiday Gifts: Decorate various sizes of paper rectangles with rubber stamps, glitter-glue pens, or crayons. Complete by gluing on ribbons and bows. Picture Postcards: Use markers to draw pictures or designs on 4- by 6-inch index cards. Write dictated messages on the backs of the cards. Personal Flags: Decorate paper rectangles with crayons, markers, or glued-on paper scraps. Staple on straws for flagpoles.

 
RECTANGLE SEARCH AND FIND

Give each of your children a zipper-top plastic bag with a paper rectangle attached to the front. Invite the children to look through magazines to find rectangular pictures. Have them cut or tear out the pictures and place them in their bags. Allow time for the children to share their pictures before using them to make books or collages.

 

RECTANGLE PUZZLE FUN Have your children draw pictures on rectangular pieces of construction paper, encouraging them to fill up the space as much as possible. Then cut each child's paper into several rectangular puzzle pieces and challenge the child to put his or her puzzle back together.

 
RECTANGLE WALK
Give each of your children a paper rectangle. Talk about how the shape has four points, two short sides, and two long sides. Then together, go on a walk around the room to see how many rectangles you can discover. Keep a tally of found shapes and count the total at the end of your search.
 

FOLLOW THE RECTANGLE PATH Look in office supply stores for rectangular color code stickers or rectangular self-stick address labels. Use the stickers to create a winding path on the floor of your room. Encourage your children to move along the path in various ways, such as walking or crawling, or going forward, backward, sideways, or on tiptoe.