Let’s do shape activities! Today is all about shape recognition which is an essential preschool skill. We have 45+ preschool shape activities, perfect for little kids who are learning the different shapes surrounding them. It’s a great way to learn basic shapes in a fun way at home or in the preschool and kindergarten classroom.
Best Shape Activities for Kids to Learn Shapes
Learning shapes is a very important skill for young children. Learning the names of the shapes as well as understanding what they look like is an easy way to help children identify visual information and learn skills in several other areas such as math, science, and even reading. These geometric shapes activities are a great opportunity for building a strong foundation that will prepare little learners for school at the same time it helps them enhance their fine motor skills.
Whether you are a preschool teacher looking for some ideas for lesson plans or a parent that wants a fun shape activity for their young kids, you’re in the right place. A lot of these activities are perfect for 3 year olds and above, but some might be easy enough for younger kids.
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Related: Easy! How to Make a Geoboard
Shape Activities for Preschool
1. Math Game: Geometric Shapes {Hands on Math}
Blocks in geometric shapes can make a great learning tool! Here’s a great math game to help your child learn while having fun.
2. Math for Kids: Making Shapes
Let’s learn about shapes with this math activity for kids. It’s a great summer activity that you can do with simple supplies.
3. Paper Activity: Shape Monsters
Here’s a fun little game for kids – let’s make our own shape monsters with colored paper, scissors, and glue!
4. 2d Shape Activities for Preschool, Pre-K and Kindergarten
Learning about 2D shapes is a must for every early childhood classroom. Here’s a compilation of 2D shape activities for kindergarten students. From Pocket of Preschool.
5. Road Shape Mats
Pre-K Pages shared 22 printable road shape mats to help your little learners identify shapes.
6. 2D Playdough Shape Mats
Download these printable play dough shape mats to help them learn shapes in a fun, hands-on way. From Pre-K Pages.
7. “I Have, Who Has” Shapes Game
Nothing is better for learning than a fun shapes game! Here’s a printable game you can try with small groups. From PreKinders.
8. Teaching Shapes in Pre-K
PreKinders shared a few games to learn about shapes, such as a memory game, a shape bingo, a shape collage, and more.
9. A wonderful way to introduce letters and shapes while building pre-writing skills!
Here’s a creative and fun way to introduce tracing letters, shapes, and numbers around the classroom without a worksheet. From Teach Preschool.
10. Shape Hunt
Explore shapes with a fun, interactive, and colorful game! From Teach Preschool.
11. Move and Learn Shapes with a Ball + Tape for Toddlers
Try a fun hands-on activity for toddlers for a creative twist to learning shapes! You only need a ball, painter’s tape, and an open space. From Hands On As We Grow.
12. Geometry for Kids: Finding Shapes at the Playground
Just print out this free shape hunt printable and go searching for shapes at the playground with this fun geometry activity for children! From Buggy and Buddy.
13. Geometric Shapes Math Activity for Kids
Learn by doing, creating, discovering, and exploring with a simple, fun geometry activity. From Little Bins for Little Hands. It also doubles as an art activity!
14. Gruffalo Themed Shape Animals Inspired by Author Julia Donaldson
Using playful shapes let’s explore the characters in the book created by Julia Donaldson to create Gruffalo Themed Shape Animals. From The Educators Spin on it.
15. Feed The Hungry Shape Monsters Sorting Game
Make a fun activity for preschoolers and school-aged kids with this feed the hungry shape monsters sorting game from The Imagination Tree! So simple to make and great for teaching little ones to recognize 2D shapes in a hilarious way!
16. Sticky Shape Bugs Activity
These sticky shape bugs are a great way to develop fine motor skills and critical thinking skills while learning about shapes. From Fun Learning For Kids.
17. Learning Shapes with Spaghetti Noodles!
Here’s a very fun way to teach shapes using spaghetti noodles! This hands-on activity also is a great sensory activity. From Teaching Mama.
18. Build a shape match for an easy DIY activity
This shape match activity gives new ways to use an old toy, while helping toddlers learn shapes. It’s super easy, too! From Busy Toddler.
19. Chalk Shapes Jumping Game
This jumping game is made by drawing chalk shapes outside. Perfect for gross motor fun while learning the shapes! From Craftulate.
20. Open and Closed LEGO Polygon Shapes
We love LEGO activities! This game is great for learning fractions and exploring geometric concepts. From JDaniel4’s Mom.
21. Shape Sensory Squish Bag for Kids
If your kids love sensory play, this activity is for them! This sensory squish bag has triangles, circles, and squares. From Still Playing School.
22. Stamping Shapes in Kinetic Sand
Stamping shapes into kinetic sand is a great opportunity to work on shape identification, count the sides and corners, and compare and contrast the shapes. From Still Playing School.
23. Make a Truck from Shapes
For this activity, you will need some shapes to trace, such as wooden blocks, paper and a pencil or pen. Preschoolers will enjoy making their own trucks! From Powerful Mothering.
24. Waldorf Square Geometric 3D Wooden Puzzle Blocks: DIY Toy for Kids
Make an easy DIY toy for kids made with wooden blocks and liquid watercolor paints. Children can exercise their geometric and spatial thinking while tinkering with this 3D wooden puzzle from Rhythms of Play.
25. Magazine Shape Hunt and Sort
Kids will learn shapes while they practice cutting, gluing and sorting. It’s also an awesome way to work on critical thinking and observation skills. From Fun Learning For Kids.
26. Building Rockets with Shapes
Building rockets with shapes is a fun way to review shapes and colors with toddlers and preschoolers! From Stir The Wonder.
27. Building on Outlines
This wooden brick activity is a great way to help kids with shapes and spatial skills. You only need wooden shapes, paper and a pencil. From Scotts Bricks.
28. Sorting Shapes in our Sensory Bin
Sorting Shapes in a Sensory Bin is a fun activity for children to learn about shapes and colors while developing their fine motor skills. Let’s play! From Learning 4 Kids.
29. Learning Shapes and Colors With Rainbow Rocks
Let’s make rainbow rocks to learn shapes and colors! For this activity, you need a collection of rocks and acrylic paint. It’s also the perfect addition to St. Patrick’s Day activities. From Fun-A-Day.
30. Simple Shape Collages
These simple shape collages are the perfect activity to create an enriching learning opportunity for your children with a few materials. From Homegrown Friends.
31. DIY Geoboard With Fabric Loops
This DIY geoboard is educational and super easy to make. It’s a a great way to learn about more complex shapes such as trapezoids and right triangles. From Crayon Box Chronicles.
32. Shape Monsters Collage Art
Let’s create shape monsters to learn different shapes, through art! This activity uses simple supplies such as markers, glue, and fun collage materials. From Fantastic Fun and Learning.
33. Photo Shape Puzzles
With these free printable shape photo puzzles from Fantastic Fun and Learning, preschoolers and kindergarteners can practice shape recognition and identifying objects that match the various shapes.
34. Cardboard Shapes – Easy Toddler Craft Activity
We love recycling materials for our kids’ activities! A few cardboard shapes provide a simple building and sorting activity for toddlers. From My Bored Toddler.
35. Trace The Shapes Art Project
This trace the shapes activity was a fun way to combine learning about shapes with art and fine motor skills development. From Gift of Curiosity.
36. Learn about shapes using paper plates and yarn
We love this preschool activity because it only requires yarn, paper plates, and paint. From Laughing Kids Learn.
37. Shape Play Dough Mats
These shape mats are perfect for a quick activity as you only need to print the mats and grab some play dough. From PreKinders.
38. Shape Hopscotch
We love this simple shape hopscotch game – it is a fun way to work on gross motor skills along side color and shape recognition. From Housing a Forest.
39. Shape Scavenger Hunt
Adding movement to learning makes it fun and engaging – that’s why this shape scanver hunt from Pink Oatmeal is a great activity for the classroom.
40. Floating Dry Erase Rainbow and Shapes Experiment
How does adding some science to your shape lessons sound like? This science experiment for kids is so much fun and will make learning the shapes easier for them. From Active Littles.
41. Nature shapes outdoor math activities
Got a little one that loves the outdoors? Then this activity is perfect for them – and it won’t cost you a thing! This approach will also make it easier to learn about measurement and sizes. From Nurture Store.
42. Shape Sorting Sensory Invitation to Play
This activity incorporates early math skills such as identifying shapes and sorting, fine motor skills and tactile sensory input. What a great way to learn! From Stir The Wonder.
43. Learning Shapes: Sponge Stamped Triangle Collage
In this simple art activity children will use sponges and tempera paint to make a triangle collage! From Buggy and Buddy.
44. Learning Shapes: Stuffed Shape Craft for Kids
Here’s a fun craft for preschoolers that is perfect for fine motor practice and learning shapes– stuffed shapes, using household materials. From Buggy and Buddy.
45. Shapes Treasure Basket for Baby And Toddler Play
This shapes treasure basket is great for both babies and older kids learning about shapes. From Play & Learn Every Day.
46. Shape Necklace Craft for Kids Using Dyed Pasta
Who said food and learning didn’t go together? {giggles} We used dyed pasta and pipe cleaners to make a shape necklace craft for kids. From Buggy and Buddy.
47. Math games – bake some shapes
Children learn through their senses, through hands-on play and through doing. This idea combines all three – let’s bake some shapes! From Nurture Store.
Want more activities for learning shapes?
- This matching egg game is a great way to help toddlers learn shapes and colors.
- Make a chickadee shapes craft with a few simple supplies.
- This basic shapes chart shows what shapes your child should know by each age.
- We have even more math shape games for preschoolers!
- Let’s find shapes in nature with a fun shape scavenger hunt!
- Check out these geometric coloring pages. What a fun way to learn about math and shapes!
- Check out these shape coloring pages! They’re fun and educational!
- Check out these gross motor activities for preschoolers!
- Take a look at these preschool rectangle worksheets!
Did you enjoy these preschool shape activities?
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