Pigs love mud! And children love hearing about pigs in mud! I think the idea of mess resonates with our little ones!
Here is a simple journal activity you can try at home with your little ones to work on learning or reviewing shapes. Help the Pigs to find their spots in the Mud.

I love activities that are easy to put together, functional and keep little hands busy as they learn.
This simple activity took me less than 20 mins to prepare and was completed by the girls in under ten minutes. A total win, right?

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.

Materials you will need to reproduce this simple journal activity:

• A journal/paper
• construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Markers
• Pencil

How to create this Simple activity:

Step 1: Collect all the materials you will need.

Step 2: Draw your shapes onto a pink piece of construction paper. I gathered around four sheets of pink construction paper, folded them into half then drew on them. This led to all my shapes being the same size and lessening my time cutting.

Step 3: Draw the outline of mud onto your brown construction paper and cut it out. Use glue to place your mud outline on a piece of white construction paper or in your learning journal if you use one.

Step 4: Collect one of each of your pink shapes and trace them in the outline of mud. Leave some space between the shapes so that you can add your pig feet and ears.

Step 5: Cut small triangles and rectangles and glue them to the shapes in the mud. Use the triangles for the ears and the small rectangles for the feet.

Step 6: Use a black marker to draw eyes and snouts onto each shape. Also, use your black marker to outline the shapes in the mud to make them bold and inviting.

This activity is also great for:

• Teaching reviewing the names of some basic shapes
• Concentration
• Hand-eye coordination 
• Fine motor skills development
• Special awareness 

Below are five of our favourite books that we used to explore shapes, and we want to share them with you.

The Shape Of Things By Dayle Ann Dodds

“A square is just a square until you add a roof, two windows and a door, then it is much more!” in this well-thought-out book.

Each basic shape is beautifully illustrated on its own, and on the following page, your child will get an opportunity to observe how the shape being focused on can be found in their environment. The pictures of the things found in the environment are paper collage art to show children how circles, triangles and squares form parts of things they see daily. 

Shapes Shapes Shapes By Tana Hoban

Shapes Shapes Shapes lends itself to so much exploration of any home environment. The author uses real-life pictures of objects that can be found in most homes.

Mouse Shapes Ellen Stoll Walsh

In Mouse Shapes, three mice hide from a cat in a pile of bright, colourful shapes .

Once the threat subsides, the mice manipulate the shapes to create items in their environment. “We can make things with them. Here’s a square. A triangle on top makes it a perfect house for a little mouse.” 

The Shape of Me and Other Stuff By Dr. Seuss

The Shape Of Me and Other Stuff, with its illustrations in silhouette, aims to accent the outlines of figures and is a great way to teach our little ones that everything in our environment has a special shape. In this book, your little one will be encouraged to ponder shapes they would not normally consider: “Just think about the shape of bugs, a ballon, a bed and a bike!”

Not A Box By Antoinette Portis

In this book, a bunny is using his imagination to enjoy his “Not Not Not Just a box!” The bunny is asked in the beginning of the story, “Why are you sitting in that box?” What might look like an ordinary carton is actually a race car, a mountain, a burning building, a spaceship or anything else the imagination might dream up. The text is super simple, and in no time, your little one will be listing all the rectangular things the bunny is imagining his carton to be.

Send us pictures of your little ones doing this activity so that we can share them in this article!😊

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.