Shape Monster
You Will Need:
- Pieces of cardboard or used cereal boxes
- Ready-mix paints
- Googly eyes or drawn eyes
- Glue
- Scissors
The Activity:
- Start with just one shape for the younger children - choose one of the 2 dimensional shapes to begin with either circle, square, rectangle or triangle and cut the shape from used cardboard or boxes.
- Simply paint the cardboard , using one colour per 2D shape. As you introduce another shape choose a different colour.
- The adult: cut out a mouth in the corresponding shape.
- Add some googly or drawn eyes to your shape monster.
- You’re ready to play!!
- Collect a selection of objects to place in the mouth of the shape monster
- Let posting begin - encourage your child to hunt around the house for objects to place through the mouth.
- Take time to talk about what does fit in the shape monsters mouth and what does not and why?
- Be led by your child to the length of time this takes.
- Revisit the activity daily and extend it to further support your child’s understanding of shape.
Extending The Activity:
- As your child becomes confident with one shape you can introduce another two dimensional shape
- Make roads in the same dimensional shapes for use with cars
Words to introduce during the activity to support language development
- Circle
- Square
- Triangle
- Rectangle
- Corners
- Point
- Sides
- Colours
- Radius
- Equal
- Straight
- Curved
How this supports your child's learning:
- Mathematical: naming 2D shapes, talking about the basic properties of shapes e.g. round/ pointy/ straight edges etc, counting
- Physical: gross motor co-ordination, rotating objects, sorting, fine motor control
- Creativity: naming colours, patterns; overlapping shapes; exploring shape in the environment
Top Tip:
So simple to make and a way to teach children to recognise, name and sort 2D shapes in a fun and exciting way!
