A Sticky Shapes Game You Can Play at Home With Your Preschooler

A Sticky Shapes Game You Can Play at Home With Your Preschooler
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Learning and Playing

(photobucket (c) photo credits)

A child educated only at school is an uneducated child.”[1] (George Santayana) Our children are one of our most precious assets, they are your family’s future. It is in their eyes, that you can see innocence and trust in its purest form.

We all remember the games we played when once, we were young. We all remembered the fun things we did with our friends, such as swimming or playing in the playground. Well, as a parent or guardian, it is sometimes a great idea to put them both together.

Play, is the best way to learn at their age and I am sure at almost any age. When you play while you learn you don’t really realize that you are being taught something. The joy of play is so astounding at any age that you blindly envelope yourself and let go.

Shapes activities will help the toddler learn their basic shapes; circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles. They learn by repetition or repeating things over and over to them. Once you create and play this game, it may become a playtime/learning time favorite.

What’s the Sticky Shapes Game?

This game has to be created by using a large poster board that you and the child can personalize or decorate, as long as it has the four basic shapes on it. The shapes should be placed within a large square with a border, that is halved then cut into fourths. You can center each shape within each one of the smaller squares and color them in. You should use one of the four basic colors such as; blue, red, green, or yellow. Next, you will need to cut a small piece of velcro and place in the center of each colored shape. The velcro piece should be the part that is the roughest or the sticky side of the material.

Now, you will need to cut the shapes identical to the ones that you have on the board and in the same colors. It may be best to cut two pieces of construction paper instead of coloring them in, if you like. You should be able to place one on the board using glue and the second shape can be used to have the child match, while playing the game.

Objective: The overall objective of the shape activities game is to establish which shape you are working with and have them name and then match the piece on the poster board that is hung up. As an extra learning tidbit to keep away boredom, add naming the colors later on.

How To Play & What Do I Need?

Materials Needed:

  • large poster board
  • cardboard box, for sturdiness (optional)
  • scissors
  • crayons or coloring pencils
  • 4 sets of velcro pieces, size of quarter to half a dollar
  • construction paper
  • glue
  • child’s favorite stickers to decorate the poster board or personalize it (optional)

Instructions:

  1. (optional) Use a large piece of cardboard on the back of the poster board, you can staple them to each other.

  2. Draw a large square that reaches at least one inch from the vertical edges of the poster board, but not to the top of the board.

  3. Leave some of the top of the poster board to allow for your child’s personalization of the game.

  1. Now half the large square and then draw it into fourths.

  2. Use the construction paper to cut shapes almost as large as the fourths on the board.

  3. Cut two pieces of the same shape place one of each shape on the poster board within a square and glue it well.

  4. Glue the sticky side of the velcro in the center of each shape (optional)

  5. Glue more cardboard to the back of each matching shape.

  1. Glue the opposite side of the velcro in the center of the matching shape.

  2. Have Fun!

This shape activities game will reinforce their knowledge of shapes or teach them for the first time. Now, you and your child can have fun playing the “Sticky Shapes Game!”

References

  • Cited Sources: Johnson Lewis, Jone. “From Wisdom Quotes: Quotations to inspire and challenge”. Children Quotes. May 28, 2009.