SPY A SHAPE

It’s Math Monday!  How about some ideas for geometry?  You can use these activities with young children or school age by adapting the shapes.  You might even “spy” some Common Core Math Standards here!!!

Spy a Shape  (“Do You Know the Muffin Man?”)

Do you spy a circle, circle, circle?   (Make circles with thumb and index finger

Do you spy a circle in the room?      and put around eyes as you sing.)

Yes, I spy a circle, circle, circle.      (Children point to a circle.)

Yes, I spy a circle in the room.

Can you draw a circle, circle, circle?  (Draw an invisible circle in the air.)

Can you draw a circle nice and round?

I can draw a circle, circle, circle.

I can draw a circle nice and round.

Square… 4 equal sides.

Triangle…3 sides that slant.

Rectangle…2 long and 2 short sides.

*Have children draw shapes in the air with elbows, feet, noses, and other body parts.

*Let children get up and touch different shapes in the room as you sing the song.  You could use flat shapes as well as solid shapes (cubes, cylinders, etc.)

*Place foam shapes or 3-dimensional shapes in a bottle filled with sand or salt.  Children spin it around and try to identify the shapes.  Can they draw the different shapes that they spy?

*Divide children into small groups and challenge them to lay on the floor and make various shapes with their bodies.  How many friends will it take to make a triangle?  A square?  A pentagon?  Take pictures and make a book.

*Make spyglasses for “spying” shapes by wrapping construction paper around paper towel rolls. 

*Cut geometric shapes out of construction paper and let children use them to make a collage.  Can they combine simple shapes to make larger shapes?

*Cut sponges into geometric shapes and have children dip them in paint and stamp on paper.

*Download highway shapes from makinglearningfun.com.  Children can drive around these with toy cars or they can roll play dough and place it on the shapes.

*Go on a walk and look for shapes in your school and on the playground.