Tips for Teaching Shapes to Kids
• From the age of 1, wooden blocks can be used to teach shapes to children. While playing with these blocks, children can grasp the formal properties of the shapes and the areas they cover in space.
• By playing games based on categorizing shapes with children who learn shapes, it can be ensured that they comprehend similar and different features of shapes.
• Children can be introduced to lego-like toys at the age when choking hazards are reduced by throwing objects into their mouths. Thanks to these toys, children can learn that squares and rectangles overlap and form buildings or that triangles are used on the roofs of houses.
• Lego-like toys can make it easier for children to not only learn the names of figures, but also to perceive their forms.
• You can also play shape bingo to make sure the kids learn shapes. All you have to do is put objects of different shapes in a bag and ask your child to find the shape you say by feeling the inside of the bag with his hand.
• In order for children to comprehend the formal features more clearly, they can be made to associate the learned figures with objects other than their toys. For example, when you see a sailboat you say it is a triangle or “What do you think the shape of the vase is?” Guiding your child with questions such as, can help him understand the shapes more clearly.
• We can say that another important rule of learning shapes is to recognize shapes on paper. For this reason, you can play a game of matching wooden blocks with drawings of shapes with your child.
• You can also experiment with drawing and painting to improve the two-dimensional perception of shapes. Thus, you can both have a pleasant time together and contribute to the development of your child.
• You can get help from coloring books designed for children to learn shapes.
• If you want to prepare your own activities to be done at home, you can print a cubic picture colorless and paint it together. It can be an extremely useful activity as long as you set up rules, such as painting each shape a different color or alternately painting the shapes.
