Fishy Shapes: A Fun Shape Recognition Activity for Young Children

Aug 19, 2024 | DIY Crafts & Activities, Educational Content | 0 comments

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Here is a simple activity you can try with your toddler at home to work on shape recognition.

Fishy Shapes: A Simple Shape Matching Activity for Toddlers and Preschoolers.

This learning journal activity is low-prep, and as a busy mom, I am all for activities that are simple, fun and effective.

Here are some more shape activities you might like.

Ladybugs On A Leaf Shapes Match

Place The Spiders In Their Correct Spots

Help The Pigs To Find Their Spots In The Mud

Materials you will need to recreate this simple activity:

Learning Journal
Construction paper
Pencil
Markers
Glue Stick
Scissors

How to Recreate this Simple Activity:

The steps to recreating this simple activity are pretty straightforward.
Step 1: First, gather all the materials you need

Step 2: Fold your construction paper for the shapes into four and draw the shapes you will be working on onto one side of your construction paper.

Step 3: Use your scissors to cut out your shapes of choice. When you are finished cutting, you will have four of each shape. I used one of each as a stencil to trace the shapes into our learning journal with a pencil. I traced each shape in our learning journal three times.

Step 4: After tracing with the pencil, I used a blue marker to outline each shape and added tails and fins. I also used markers to add seaweed stones, sand, bubbles and water to make the activity inviting for my little one.

Step 5: Lastly, use your blue marker to add gills to the shapes you cut out of construction paper.

In five easy steps, it is time for some learning fun!

This simple educational activity is excellent for working on :

Teaching/reviewing some basic shapes
Concentration
Hand-eye coordination
Fine motor skills development
Spacial awareness

Some ways in which knowing shapes help our little ones are:

To Identify objects that are the same and different.
To sort and categorize objects.
To use descriptive vocabulary.

There are so many opportunities in our environment that we should be using daily to teach our little ones their shapes.

When teaching young children about shapes, it is best to do so through play and real-life experiences.

Children need to practice manipulating the various shapes, which is key to ensuring that when they do learn their shapes, their learning is concrete.

Below are six simple ways you can use the environment to teach shapes to your little ones.

Discussing the shape of a circular plate your child is eating from.
Discussing the shape of the food they are eating. (A slice of cheese, watermelon or pizza.)
Discussing the shape of a square or rectangular book they are reading.
Observing shapes on household items.
Providing your child with puzzles focused on teaching shapes.
Observing and discussing shapes that are on clothing.

When children are given first-hand experiences in manipulating shapes in different orientations, they will begin to notice them in the environment around them.

Always keep in mind that the teaching of shapes goes beyond your child’s ability to identify shapes by their names. Over time, as we teach and expose our children to shapes, our end goal should always be for them to describe each shape by discussing their properties comfortably.

We do hope you find this activity useful. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us by sending us a message or visiting us @learning.stepbystep on Instagram, Learning Step By Step on Facebook and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for educational resources that will help you and your littles on their learning journey as they continue to Learn Step By Step!

Thank you for being here!

Kimberlee and the Learning Step By Step Team.