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Pattern Shapes by The Math Learning Center

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Students use Pattern Shapes to explore geometry and fractions, create their own designs, or fill in outlines. As they work with shapes, students think about angles, investigate symmetry, and compose and decompose larger shapes.

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2D Shapes Are Everywhere | Shape Song for Kids | Learn Shapes | Jack Hartmann

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This simple but colorful game requires students to find various shapes hidden in a picture. There are two levels.

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For Teachers: Excellent website discussing beneficial apps 

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For Teachers: Excellent website discussing beneficial apps 

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Upon exploring the platform more fully with the staff, we all felt that we had missed a huge amount of apps which would have a significant impact in the classroom.

Ben Everitt, St Micheals Aldbourne Primary School

The Teacher App Library removes so much of the 'trial and error' when looking for new apps. It gives you the information you need to decide if an app is worth downloading, especially if there is a cost involved.

Ted Glover, Carlton Primary School

I must have saved a good two hours at least last week when it came to purchasing apps, because I could find good apps quickly, with no confusion over age and/or ability levels.

Andrew Riley, St Bede's Community School

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Upon exploring the platform more fully with the staff, we all felt that we had missed a huge amount of apps which would have a significant impact in the classroom. Ben Everitt, St Micheals Aldbourne Primary School The Teacher App Library removes so much of the 'trial and error' when looking for new apps.

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Today's list of books are books about shapes. Kids are little sponges and love learning new things. Shapes are always a favorite!

Ship Shapes by Stella Blackstone and Siobhan Bell is a bright, colorful and engaging book all about finding shapes. While the text is simple, it serves to support the reader's efforts finding shapes throughout the book. However, what I like is that these illustrations are challenging, and not really illustrations at all. The fabric collages are so detailed and layered that the obvious shapes are easy to find. But many are hidden. So if you are reading this with an older child there is still some challenge.

Clay Quest Minis: Search for Shapes! by Helen Bogosian is a big hit with my son and me! I was lucky enough to receive this book from the publisher. It's already come in handy on a ferry and waiting to be seated at a restaurant keeping my son happy and busy searching for shapes. This book is an activity book that has a simple rhyme and request for the reader to find 2 shapes on every page. The shapes are hidden in the adorable clay "illustrations". But really they are photographs of clay sculptures that range in theme from a spider web to dinosaurs to princess crowns and more.

My son loves playing "Detective" and what I like is that the challenge is just right for his age group 2-3-year-olds. Younger toddlers will still enjoy it and it's vibrant colors but to do it independently this is a perfect age. I try to find negatives with books that are sent to me from publishers for review, but I am having a hard time this really is a good shape book!

Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns is a funny story about a triangle that keeps adding more and more sides until he is confused, but your preschooler will be learning all about shapes while fun. The author is a bit of a superstar in the teaching world. However, I am a huge fan of not only this book but her methods in general. If you are a teacher, especially elementary-aged, and aren't familiar with her you should be.

So Many Circles, So Many Squares by Tana Hoban is a picture book that is all about shapes in our environment. There is page after page of pictures of daily life, food, signs, etc - with the simple question of finding the shapes in the photos. It's a great book to use as a launchpad into a shape hunt in your own home or around town. However, it's worth a few looks because you will be surprised at the shapes you missed the first time.

Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh is a cute book that not only helps teach shapes it is also entertaining! The three crafty mice use the shapes to protect themselves from one hungry cat. Finally using them to make scary mice to frighten the cat away! Kids love to help find which shapes are used in the illustrations. The older ones can even anticipate what the mice will make next!

Flip-a Shape: Go! by Sami will keep busy toddlers interested in all the shapes that are made with a school bus, boat, and more! The simplistic and bright illustrations coupled with the movements of the flip a shape, this book will be a hit with your toddler!

What other books about shapes would you add to this list? Comment below or share on my Facebook page!

For more quick tips on helping your child learn to read check out my book; Raising A Rock-Star Reader. It is packed with fun ideas for families, book lists, and advice for parents.

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Today's list of books are books about shapes. Kids are little sponges and love learning new things. Shapes are always a favorite! Ship Shapes by Stella Blackstone and Siobhan Bell is a bright, colorful and engaging book all about finding shapes. While the text is simple, it serves to support the reader's efforts finding shapes throughout the book.

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For Pupils use at home: Grover's winter games

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For Pupils use at home: Grover's winter games

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Sesame Street | Preschool Games, Videos, & Coloring Pages to Help Kids Grow Smarter, Stronger & Kinder

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Helping kids grow smarter, stronger, and kinder.

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Online educational games are among the best ways of teaching your kids about basic shapes and figures. Encourage your young child to play a variety of shapes games to build a strong basic foundation in geometry so that they thrive as they move on to higher grades.

Introduction

Kids are curious by nature and have dynamic learning capabilities. Are you a parent to a toddler who is growing increasingly observant of their surroundings? Or does your five-year-old get bored quickly with the traditional learning methods? As their parent and first teacher, you can take small steps to kindle their inherent curiosity and make learning a fun process for them.

How To Make Learning Shapes Fun For My Kids?

More and more parents like you must have started to find themselves playing the roles of their children's primary teachers as well. With interactive online games like the ones offered by SplashLearn, you can easily teach them basic geometrical concepts and ensure that they look forward to learning more!

Online shapes games are specifically designed to introduce younger children to the concepts of shapes and figures. Explore a variety of interesting shapes games for toddlers, kindergarteners, and first graders on Splashlearn.

1. Amusement Park Chapters

Introduce your toddler to various shapes like square, rectangle, triangle, and circle with the Amusement Park Chapters game designed to familiarize them with the shapes of common objects like clocks, boxes, windows, and books. As they breeze through the levels, they will learn not only about shapes but also colors.

2. Name the Shapes

If your child is in kindergarten, it is a good time to teach them the names of various shapes and encourage them to name two-dimensional objects. An effective way of doing this is to play shapes games that ask them to identify brightly colored two-dimensional shapes by name.

3. Shapes In The World

Once your kids learn to name the shapes of two-dimensional objects, they can be led to the Shapes In The World segment, in which they will learn to identify the shapes of real-world objects like pizza slices, chocolate bars, buttons, hangers, and crackers.

4. Identify The Shapes

For kids in grade one, these games introduce them to more complex shapes like trapezoids and help them learn how to differentiate squares and rectangles from other trapezoids. They also learn how to identify circles, triangles, and trapezoids in different orientations.

5. Geometrical Games for Older Children

As your child breezes past levels of these educational online shapes games, their understanding of shapes and basic geometry deepens. Splashlearn also has easy geometrical games for older kids who already have basic knowledge about shapes and figures.

What Possible Challenges Could my Child Face in Learning Shapes?

Learning is a complex process, and small kids are likely to face occasional challenges while learning shapes. Toddlers might take some time to identify different shapes, while kindergarteners may face issues in assigning shape names to real-world objects. Kids may also get confused when they see familiar shapes in different sizes or unusual orientations. SplashLearn's games are designed to address such common issues and will help your child in overcoming them.

How Can I Assist My Child in Overcoming These Challenges?

As a parent, be patient with the child if they are facing any struggles. SplashLearn's shapes games are specifically designed to be fun, interactive, and lively, and you can support your child by encouraging them to play these games repeatedly until they understand a certain concept. Be gentle with your child and motivate them at every stage of their development.

Learning shapes can be such a fun and creative process with SplashLearn's interactive online games. You can access several of these games for free and go for a subscription to unlock lots more.

We would love to hear from you about how you teach shapes to your kids to make it enjoyable for them. Write to us at [email protected] with your feedback and comments.

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Games for Kids on Shapes Online - SplashLearn

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Online educational games are among the best ways of teaching your kids about basic shapes and figures. Encourage your young child to play a variety of shapes games to build a strong basic foundation in geometry so that they thrive as they move on to higher grades.

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KidsCamp Nursery Rhymes & Learning Videos for Kids

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Learning Shapes, Colors & Numbers with Wooden Truck Toys | Ep1 - Best Learning Videos for Toddlers

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A draggable torch shining on a hidden shape.
Identify and describe 2D and 3D shapes.

Instructions:

1. Press the next button.

2. Look above the next button for tiny text naming the shape. If you don't want that shape click again.

3. Drag the moving torch around the shape to reveal its features.

4. Move the slider to increase the size of the torch.

5. Press on the eye to reveal all.

6. You can swap between 2D and 3D shapes.

Have fun!

Build on the learning with
these games:

This game is © copyright 2019, J.Barrett, ictgames.com All Rights Reserved.

Made using the and libraries.

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Press the next button. Look above the next button for tiny text naming the shape. If you don't want that shape click again. Drag the moving torch around the shape to reveal its features. Move the slider to increase the size of the torch. Press on the eye to reveal all.

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For Parents: For early years recognising shapes

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For Parents: For early years recognising shapes

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Use this applet to create patterns to cover the screen using regular polygons.

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Geoboard is a tool for mathematical exploration. Stretch bands around the pegs to form line segments and polygons, and make discoveries about perimeter, area, angles, congruence, fractions, and more.

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Shape Monsters - 2D Shapes Matching Game

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An interactive, maths 2D shapes game for young children who are learning the names of basic shapes. Children identify shapes by comparison and the Shape Monsters tell them the names of the shapes.

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Help Baby Fox fix his amazing machine to see something amazing happen!

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QR CODE

Scan this on mobiles and tablets to quickly open this web page.

Shape Patterns is a sequencing game where you need to complete the pattern of different coloured 2D shapes. It is a multiple choice game with three levels of difficulty. It is excellent for shape recognition and for problem solving.

In the easier levels you need to continue the pattern, but in the more challenging level 3, you are presented with a sequence with the missing element in different positions. This level in particular, is an excellent problem solving activity.

As with all of our games, Shape Patterns works well on an interactive whiteboard.

AGE

3-8 Years

SUBJECTS

Maths Shapes Sequencing

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Shapes patterns is a free, shapes sequencing game where children need to complete a sequence of different coloured 2D shapes. For children from 3 to 8 years.

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1

QR CODE

Scan this on mobiles and tablets to quickly open this web page.

This resource is designed to develop an understanding of the sorting of 2D shapes on a Carroll diagram using particular properties as criteria. Shapes are sorted by two varying criteria.

Each of the four levels of difficulty can help children to identify and know the names of 2D shapes of different colours, sizes and orientations. Levels 3 and 4 support the understanding of the properties of regular and irregular 2D shapes, and right angles.

N.B. Squares are classed as rectangles in this game. Too often children are taught to categorise rectangles and squares differently when they should be learning that squares are really 'square rectangles'. This is recognised in the National Curriculum for England in Year 1 Statutory requirements.

AGE

6-11 Years

SUBJECTS

Maths Data Handling Shapes

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2D Shapes Sorting using Carroll Diagrams

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Compare and sort 2D shapes on to Carroll diagrams with two criteria. There are four levels of difficulty. For 6 to 11 year olds. The resource works well on an interactive whiteboard.

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Ocean Shapes Mural - No Time For Flash Cards

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We usually rush off to t-ball after school but the practice was rained out and I was determined not to fill the time with TV although I really wanted to just chill and read too. So we went up to our messy playroom and while my son set up his playdough battleground again and my ...

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Pizza Game

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This activity is wonderful for all ages, older children can draw their own toppings and to complete the fun you can make your own pizzas for dinner!

1. Gather your materials. You will need some construction paper, markers, scissors and glue. That's it!

2. Draw some shape toppings , with younger children stay simple, with older ones the sky is the limit. Don't forget one big circle for the crust.

3. Color the toppings- wait to cut them out, the small pieces are too hard to color for little guys.

4. Color the crust!

5. While your child is coloring the crust , cut the toppings out.

6. Grab your glue and start putting those toppings on.

7. Remember throughout the activity to talk about shapes, colors and all that other fun stuff. As always if that is interfering with your child's creativity, chill they are learning by doing we don't always have to be "teaching" !

Book!

The Princess and the Pizza

Mary Jane and Herm Auch is a really cute retelling of the classic Princess and the Pea. They have modernized it and made it a little more feminist in the process, exactly my kind of book. The text is a little long for toddlers, but my son sat through about half before wanting to go back and look at the illustration of the horse on the first page. The message is sweet, saying that a woman doesn't need a man or marriage to attain her goals! Beware though it will make you crave pizza! A perfect pairing with a pizza craft!

Filed Under: Age Preschool, Age: Toddlers, Food Activities, Pizza, Shape Activities |

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This activity is wonderful for all ages, older children can draw their own toppings and to complete the fun you can make your own pizzas for dinner! Gather your materials. You will need some construction paper, markers, scissors and glue. That's it!

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For Parents: Home schooling Shape sorting sensory game 

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For Parents: Home schooling Shape sorting sensory game 

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FINE MOTOR MATH PRESCHOOL SENSORY

SHAPE SORTING SENSORY INVITATION TO PLAY

Share and enjoy!

Happy Fine Motor Friday! It’s good for toddlers and preschoolers to do a variety of fine motor activities. Having different activities help work different fine motor muscles and hand coordination which is necessary for handwriting. Fine Motor Fridays is all about giving you a bunch of ideas to do with your little ones! Be sure to check out activities from our co-hosts at the end of this post!

This week I am sharing another invitation to play, similar to last week’s Play Dough Invitation with Ants. Invitations to play are an easy way to provide your children with something different to play with independently so you can get something done around the house like laundry or making lunch. Since Caden has recently started going to preschool a couple of mornings a week, I have time to get these set up for him to enjoy when he gets home.

This post may contain affiliate links.

This week I set up this simple Shape Sorting Sensory Invitation to Play! It incorporates early math skills such as identifying shapes and sorting, fine motor skills and tactile sensory input. Once discovered on the table, Caden started playing with it right away! This activity was so simple to set up! Here are the supplies you’ll need to put together an invitation for your kids!

Supplies:

Bin

Black Beans

Shape Buttons

Fine Motor Tools

Large Tweezers

Small Muffin Tin

Set Up:

1. Fill bin with black bins and shape buttons.

2. Arrange bin, muffin tin and fine motor tools on activity table.

3. Invite children to play.

How to Play:

Children will most likely come up with ways to play with the bin, tools and muffin tin on their own. But here are some ideas you can suggest:

1. Place a different shaped button in each section of the muffin tin and invite the children to sort the buttons into the tin. They can use their fingers or fine motor tools to grab and sort the buttons!

2. Use two ice cube trays and make a game of filling the ice cube sections with shape buttons! The first player to fill their tray wins!

3. Use the fine motor tools to fill the muffin tin with beans!

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Shape Sorting Sensory Invitation to Play | Stir The Wonder

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Shape Sorting Sensory Invitation to Play incorporates early math skills such as identifying shapes and sorting, fine motor skills and tactile sensory input.

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An excellent back-to-school project for Kinders, these Shape Robots offer a look into how well a child can cut and paste, identify shapes and apply a little whimsy to their artwork.
What You'll Need...

Colored Paper Scraps cut into 4″ x 6″ pieces

12″ x 18″ black sulphite (or any other color) background paper

White school glue

Black markers

Colored beads, buttons or recycled materials

Vocabulary...
Starting with a tray of colored paper, children create a head, body and appendages for their robot. Using plastic tubs in various sizes helps little hands master a circle by tracing and cutting. You can eliminate the plastic cups if you are doing this project with older children.

Starting with the head, children decide on a shape and create one. Add a body next and then the arms and legs. I ask the children to leave a space between the head and body in case they want to add a neck.

Using a black marker, the children can add details and definition to their robots. This is a good opportunity to talk about line and patterns.

When its time to add the details, instruct the children to drop the glue onto the robot instead of trying to place a drop of glue onto a tiny bead. Much easier for little fingers!
Kinder Shape Robots...
Click the banner below to download the Robot Drawing Guide

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Shape Robots Art Project | Deep Space Sparkle

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An excellent back-to-school project for Kinders, these Shape Robots offer a look into how well a child can cut and paste, identify shapes and apply a little whimsy to their artwork. What You'll Need... Colored Paper Scraps cut into 4″ x 6″ pieces 12″ x 18″ black sulphite (or any other color) background paper White school glue Black markers Colored beads, buttons or recycled materials Vocabulary...

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Today I want to share with you a simple but fun idea for learning 2D shapes and their properties. It also encourages students to talk and build up their mathematical language.

Have your students cut some basic shapes from thin card. They can trace some templates, or wooden attribute shapes if you like. Alternatively, you could have them pre cut and ready to go.

You will need to assist your students with the cutting of finger holes at the bottom of their shape. You could let your students use a craft punch that has a large circle shape to easily punch out the holes. I don't have one yet, its on my wish list. The list I am still searching for (its incredibly long you see, and well hidden).

Your students can use coloured paper to add fun features to the puppets and also googly eyes.

Once all you students have a puppet - the mathematical discussion can begin. This lesson would be best carried out when you have already reviewed all the features of 2D shapes with your students. Perhaps you could have some posters displayed around the classroom to remind students of the features of each shape.

Model for the students some ideas before they have a turn of their own. Your students can work with a partner to create some 'shape talk'.

Here is a rough transcription of the shape talk my daughter and I had in preparation for this blog post:

A: "Hi Mr Triangle, I am Mr Rectangle"

A: "I like your orange hat. Your eyes look funny too".

Me: "I have 3 sides and they are all straight"

A: "I have 4 sides and they are straight too".

Me: "I have a friend with 4 sides, he is a square"

A: I am like a square, but stretched out. I have 2 long sides.

A: "They are called vertices"

Me: (picking myself up off the floor, cause I didn't know she knew that yet) "Wow, that is clever, how many do you have?"

A: "He he he, your eye just fell off".

Oh!.... the learning that can take place when students are allowed to talk and interact. Get them away from that smart board for a few minutes and get them talking, looking, and conversing with a real person! Ignore the noise and chatter for a while and focus on the good quality language (hopefully) being created!

Ideally, it would be good to pair up students with less knowledge, with a more confident students that can encourage some good questions and focus attention of important features. After a few minutes with one partner, ask your students to move on to a new partner. You will see your less-able students really grow in confidence as they use some of the ideas that they developed from working with their first partner.

Find more ideas for teaching 2D shapes, on my blog HERE

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Today I want to share with you a simple but fun idea for learning 2D shapes and their properties. It also encourages students to talk and build up their mathematical language. Have your students cut some basic shapes from thin card. They can trace some templates, or wooden attribute shapes if you like.

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What You’ll Need

Craft foam (red, green, yellow, orange, blue)

Scissors

Markers

Cardstock

Metal fastener

What to Do

1. Cut out 10 shapes (circles, squares, triangles) from different-colored craft foam: five sets of two that match in shape. Decorate one from each set with craft foam or markers.

2. For a spinner, cut a large circle and an arrow from cardstock. Write rules on different sections of the circle, as shown. Attach the arrow with a metal fastener.

To Play:

Create a path by laying the shapes outside or on a carpeted floor. Spin the spinner. Hop on one foot from shape to shape, following the rule the arrow pointed to. Rearrange the shapes to create new paths.

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FEED THE HUNGRY SHAPE MONSTERS SORTING GAME

To make this recycled game you need:

pieces of cardboard

ready-mix paints

googly eyes

glue

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Make a fun activity for preschoolers and school aged kids with this feed the hungry shape monsters sorting game! So simple to make and great for teaching little ones to recognise, name and sort 2D shapes in a silly, hilarious way!

We made this funny feed the hungry shape monsters sorting game using pieces of old cardboard, some paint and googly eyes! It was lots of silly fun for Miss 4 to sort and match the 2D shapes, naming them as she played.
To make this recycled game you need:
pieces of cardboard

ready-mix paints

googly eyes

glue

scissors

Simply paint the cardboard in as many colours as you like, using one per 2D shape that you wish to create. You could also make them all one colour, or black and white even, for an extra challenge!

We stuck with just 4 basic 2D shapes; circle, square, rectangle and triangle. Once the paint was dry I cut those shapes out and made them different sizes, and the triangles were cut in a variety of forms so that they weren't all identical.

Out of some larger pieces of the same painted card I cut one large shape of each, then a correspondingly shaped hole to represent a mouth.

She helped me add some googly eyes to turn them into hungry shape monsters, ready to gobble up their favourite shapes!

We mixed up all of the shape cards and put them in a little tray, then set out the hungry shape monsters ready to sort through and feed them all! They looked so comical sitting in a row waiting with their mouths wide open.

She loved this shape sorting game and naturally her play led to making up stories for each of the monsters and why they were wanting to eat their shapes. Naming the 2D shapes became part of the play and she used words like "corners" and "sides" while describing them. This is a simple way to say and use 2D shape names with preschoolers and to sort them by sight.

For an extra challenge and the next step on you could add in more unusual shapes such as hexagon, heptagon, octagon and even more! Alternatively, ask them to sort them by the number of sides or corners that they have or even create some 3D and others 2D to mix it up further.

You could also try this using colours, numbers or letters of the alphabet too. It's always great fun to post things and retrieve them again (indeed this seems to be the number 1 most popular activity with preschool aged children) so why not extend it and find many different ways to play!

See all our DIY TOYS and GAMES here for more inspiration!

See our SHAPE ACTIVITIES here

And our PLAYFUL MATHS archives are full to bursting with good ideas to try!

If you liked this idea please consider sharing it! Thank you 🙂

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Feed the Hungry Shape Monsters Sorting Game - The Imagination Tree

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Make a fun activity for preschoolers and school aged kids with this feed the hungry shape monsters sorting game! So simple to make and great for teaching little ones to recognise, name and sort 2D shapes in a silly, hilarious way!

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Throughout primary school children learn about the properties of the shapes in the world around them (primary geometry, in other words). Phoebe Doyle offers some insiders' tips on helping them master shape and space maths targets.

Learn to recognise 2D and 3D shapes

In Reception and Key Stage 1, children will learn to name 2D and 3D shapes and will begin to understand their properties (numbers of sides, faces, edges, vertices, etc.).

By the end of KS1, children need to know the names of common 2D shapes such as: rectangle, square, circle, triangle, pentagon, hexagon and octagon.

They also need to know the names of common 3D shapes, such as: cube, cuboid, pyramid, sphere, cylinder, triangular prism and cone.

There are plenty of games you can play at home to help your child with shapes:

Play shape I-spy: Play the classic game but using shapes instead of letters, for example, "I spy something that has a green circle in the middle" etc.

Draw shapes in your mind: For example, "Imagine an enormous hexagon on the floor, how many sides does it have?"

Hide-a-shape: Prepare a tray with different shapes on it. Ask them to look at the tray then close their eyes. Remove one shape; which one have you hidden?

Go for a shape walk: See if they can spot five 2D and five 3D shapes by walking around the house or garden. Spotting shapes in everyday objects will help them to see how shapes feature in the world.

Supermarket shape-shop: In the supermarket, see if your child can find the following 3D shapes: a cylinder, a cuboid, a cube, a sphere and a triangular prism. (Hopefully, these objects will correspond to items you need to buy!) Take them home and lay them out on a table. Ask your child to point at a shape that has more than 6 edges, a shape that has a circular face, a shape that has only three faces, etc. If any of the shapes happen to contain chocolate this could be a good incentive for them to complete the task...

Get crafty with shapes

Tessellating shapes fit together, like tiles, without gaps. Children can have fun using various shapes to make different tessellating patterns. Doing such patterning can help them to learn about the features of shapes.

Some of the objectives that fall under Shape and space relate to position and direction. Get younger children used to the vocabulary by playing hide and seek with objects, or asking them to put things under / beside / on top of other things.

To encourage them to use shape- and direction-related language (flat, curved, square, round, next to, beside, etc.) try this activity: give them an old birthday card with a picture on the front. They can cut the card out into many pieces.

Encourage them to make different shapes and sizes; once they have done this they can then try to stick it together as a jigsaw. Encourage them to look carefully at how edges and corners slot together, looking for straight and curvy lines.

Use directional language

As children move through primary school they'll be taught to use directional language. This starts with children making and talking about 'turns,' which then forms the basis for learning about angles later on. Other 'position and direction' concepts that are learnt include co-ordinates and translating and reflecting shapes.

In Reception, children use everyday words to describe position, such as: above, next to, under, inside. To help them practise, play a version of hide and seek where they tell you where to hide (under a chair, behind a desk, between two chairs) while someone else does the seeking.

In Year 1 they need to recognise whole, half, quarter and three-quarter turns and continue to use words to describe position.

In Year 2, they need to give instructions involving position, direction and movement. They also need to use the words anti-clockwise and clockwise when discussing whole, half and quarter turns and know that a right angle is a quarter turn. Try a modified Simon Says game to put these concepts into action, asking them to make a quarter turn clockwise, then make a half turn anti-clockwise, and so on.

In Year 3, children need to know that one right angle is a quarter turn, two are a half turn, three a three-quarter turn and four a full turn.

In Year 4, they need to identify acute and obtuse angles, and compare and order angles. They need to describe positions on a 2D grid as co-ordinates in the first quadrant. They need to translate objects left to right and up to down.

In Year 5, children need to draw and measure angles using a protractor and calculate angles on a straight line, at a point and within a right angle. They need to reflect and translate shapes on a grid.

In Year 6, children need to work out where a shape will be after rotation through 90˚ or 180˚. They continue to measure and draw angles using a protractor and calculate angles in a triangle or around a point. Again, ask them to turn themselves to understand how shapes turn: get them to stand in the middle of a room and turn 90˚ clockwise. Can they then turn 180˚ anti-clockwise? Ask them what they will be facing if they turn 360˚ clockwise. They will also be asked to find unknown angles in triangles, quadrilaterals and regular polygons. They need to describe positions on the full co-ordinate grid (all four quadrants). They need to draw shapes on the co-ordinate plane and then reflect and translate them.

Make some prisms

Building prisms in card or paper is a fantastic way for children to see how 3D shapes are made up. Use pre-prepared nets (opened-up shapes) to get started; you can download the nets of a cube, cuboid, cylinder and prism from TheSchoolRun.

As children get older encourage them to work out and design their own nets to put together into 3D shapes. This way they're really having to think about the different faces, angles and symmetry of shapes.

To give this activity more meaning, they can decorate the boxes as flat nets and add a personal (and educational) touch to gift boxes or other craft activities.

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Teachers' tricks for shape, space and geometry

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Throughout primary school children learn about the properties of the shapes in the world around them (primary geometry, in other words). Phoebe Doyle offers some insiders' tips on helping them master shape and space maths targets.

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 For Pupils: Abstract Art Activities for shapes 

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 For Pupils: Abstract Art Activities for shapes 

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the best one for learning 2D shapes and comparing it to concrete materials and objects in our environment

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useful for showing children what a 3D shape would look like if folded out and then allowing the opportunity to test themselves.

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Solid shapes - 3D shapes - KS3 Maths Revision - BBC Bitesize

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Learn and revise the names of 3D solid shapes, the properties of prisms, pyramids and nets and practice drawing a cuboid with BBC Bitesize KS3 Maths

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For Teachers: Digital Apps for Learning Shapes for Early Years 

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For Teachers: Digital Apps for Learning Shapes for Early Years 

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Names of Digital Apps for learning shapes for EARLY YEARS

1.  Makers Empire 3D - 3D Modelling
2. My Pizza Family
3. Ruffy the Husky - On  Ice
4. Little Robot Shapes and Colours
5. Relationshapes
6. Highlight Shapes

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The 3D Shape and Space song on youtube is one of the best e resources for the teaching and learning of shape and space to upils, up to seven / eight years.

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The Singing Walrus - English Songs For Kids

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3D Shapes Song | Shapes for kids | The Singing Walrus