Today I want to share some fun, easy and engaging hands on activities for learning 2D shapes and 3D shapes and position words!
Seriously ya’ll…we giggled and giggled while doing some of these activities.
And we partied like it’s 1999 with our shape party.
And we had fun.
And we learned.
Did I mention it was and we learned our shapes and position words?!
First, you need some good anchor charts!
We made anchor charts for 2D shapes and 3D shapes and position words!
(Please note that on the pyramid for real objects one of my ‘staches said “The Great Pyramid of Giza”). Yeah, we rock like that in our class!
We had a lot of fun with this anchor chart. I had seen examples of this chart on Pinterest so I wanted to use it but it needed some Smorgie flair. Uh, hello?! It needed mustaches.
The staches got to demonstrate each position word with their friends and then we added the mustache sticker!
Then of course, you need a fun kick off activity. So why not make shape monsters?!
See, we made these and used these to make our anchor charts!
And then you need some great hands on reinforcement activities….so why not build some shapes?!
Toothpicks and marshmallows make great building tools.
And then you get to eat the marshmallows.
It’s hands on. It’s STEM. It’s engaging. It’s YUMMY!
(TIP: You could use pretzel sticks…and I’ve seen this done with toothpicks and candy corn pumpkins!)
You need to practice position words once you’ve learned shapes. So why not make shapes and use your bodies to show position words. All ya need is some yarn and some bodies!
Cut a piece of very long yarn. (TIP: Use black yarn and use the really thick yarn…easier to see and handle for little hands and eyes!)
Describe a shape by how many sides and vertices and have students build that shape.
Then have a student demonstrate a position word!
We had a blast with this activity!!!!!
And then you need a super cute art project for shapes and position words!
I printed large shapes on colored paper. (Um bright colors make everything better!)
The ‘staches cut out their shapes.
Then I gave instructions. Place the yellow shape over the green shape. And so on!
Great position words activity!
And then we made some amazing Kandinsky inspired art!
See…art and learning!
And then you celebrate learning all of your shapes and position words with a SHAPE PARTY!
Ask parents to send in foods for all of the 2D and 3D shapes!
And party!
We sort the food into 2D and 3D shapes!
I describe shapes and they have to find that shape and hold it up!
“Show me a shape with 3 sides…”
“Show me a 3D shape…”
(Great informal assessment too!)
But you might also need a more formal assessment…so why not a shape sort?! And if you use bright colored paper…even better!
And of course you need some fun review activities and center/workstation/hippopotamus activities!
Shape graphing with differentiation cubes!
Spin a shape!
Shape sorting!
And of course you need some shape freebies!
Click the picture to download the shape graph!
3D shape poem!
Shape PowerPoint for review!
Position words with the gingerbread man emergent reader!
And some resources for your shapes and position words!
