Tips For Learning 2D Shapes For Kids

Do you remember your first encounter with shapes? I am sure you’d be able to remember too if you’d learnt in a way that you loved! That’s what makes learning not only fun but also something you will remember for a long long time. So, let’s strive to make it easy to learn 2D shapes and colors for kids. How you ask? Well, as always we’re here with an answer. Let’s look at some innovative and creative ways of teaching shapes and colors to kids.

Take a look at smart tips that will surely help in learning 2D shapes and colors for kids!

Create a rhyme, sing a song:

Twinkle twinkle, Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty are all stuck in our minds in a way we’ll never forget. Why not use a rhyme to teach shapes to children then? It’ll sure be fun!

Correlate Objects to Shapes:

What is the shape of the bowl? What does your bed resemble the shape of? How would you describe the shape of your food? These questions will help them learn shapes faster and after a while they’ll themselves start pointing out things and say, “Look a square shaped book!”

Shape and Shake it up:

Use your body to make them understand shapes for e.g. stretch your hands up or join them together to form a triangle. Show your munchkin how to make a circle by holding his arms like a bowl in front of him. A little extra stretch turns his circle into an oval. To form a triangle, have him bend over and try to touch the ground a few inches in front of his feet.

DIY Shapes For Kids:

Use papers, pens, yarns, sticks, etc. to name different shapes and ask your toddler to copy you. They’ll not only learn what the shape is but also learn how to make it.

Trace the 2D Shape:

This one would be the simplest and the most straight forward way to teach shapes to a child. Draw out all the different shapes on a paper and ask your child to trace over it.

Shape Jump:

Chalk out or paint the shapes on the ground, call out the shape names and ask them to jump from one to the other for identifying the correct shape! Sounds super fun, doesn’t it? I am sure they’ll enjoy this one.

Shapes and Feelings:

Associate each shape with a feeling and ask them questions like, which shape makes you happy, which shape makes you feel sad and so on. They’ll get a better understanding of feelings too this way.

Color the Shape:

Assign a color to each shape and ask them to color it up accordingly. For instance, red for circle, green for square, blue for triangle and so on. This will even help them learn the colors! How’s that for a combo learning activity?

Shape and Body Parts:

This one is my favorite. Point to each part of their body and ask them what shape it is in. Triangle for nose, round for eyes and so on.

Group Activities and Games with shapes: 

There are a lot of possibilities with this one like-
a. Assigning a shape for each person or group and asking them to draw, color or write about that shape.
b. Ask them to think of as many objects as possible, their respective shapes and make a list of it.
c. Call out a shape and ask them to form that shape. For example if you say “Triangle” the children should try to organize themselves into a triangle.

Of course these aren’t the only ways. One can always think of more suitable and creative ideas to suit their child’s understanding and interests. Nevertheless, we hope that at least a few out of the ones suggested would come of handy use to you. Happy shaping up 🙂

Image source: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11

by Manali Desai