Are you working on geometry and spatial sense skills with your learners? Geometry and spatial sense are tricky skills to master. But with the right hands-on and engaging activities, all learners can excel and demonstrate their knowledge.
In fact, geometry and spatial sense are very important mathematical skills to learn because they help to build the foundations for counting and more complex mathematical thinking like sorting and classifying.
Geometry and Spatial Sense Skills:
To demonstrate a solid knowledge of geometry and spatial sense learners up to the age of 8 should be able to:
Preschool 2 1/2 to 6 years:
- Recognize and name shapes
- Count sides and corners
- Identify common attributes of shapes
- Match shapes and names
- Recognizing and naming cubes, rectangular prisms, cylinders, spheres
- Using spatial terms in context
- i.e. forward, backward, inside, next, behind, in front, etc.
- Following and identifying directions
- Using simple maps to find a location
- Making a simple map
School Age 5 to 8 years:
- Sort and classify two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional figures by their attributes
- Recognize symmetry
- Relate shapes to other shapes, designs, and figures
- Describe location using positional language
- i.e. first, second, third, etc.
- Understanding left and right
- Giving clear, well-organized directions
- Representing depth in drawing
- Using and creating maps
These are a lot of skills to master! So, don’t worry if your learner hasn’t mastered them all yet. We all learn at different speeds. Just continue to ensure that you are exposing them to activities and experiences that will allow them to engage with the concepts.
To begin with, you can download these 6 free shape activities and printables to use as an introduction to geometry:
- Shape Family Cards
- Shape Numbered Puzzles
- Build It Shape Cards
- Shape Match
- Trace the Shape Cards
- Shape Cards
Basic Materials Needed:
1. Shape Introductory Cards
Introducing shapes to your learner can be fun because there are shapes all around us!
Once they have been labelled, and you learner is familiar with there names and attributes, you will be surprised at how much they notice shapes in the environment.
Keep the learning going by playing a game to see who can name the most shapes!
Includes 12 shape cards: square, circle, triangle rectangle, octagon, pentagon, hexagon, diamond, oval, rhombus, heart, and star.
1. Shape Family Cards
To move onto more complex sorting and classifying, your learner needs to recognize that all shapes have specific attributes and properties that make them that shape. So no matter the size, length, or even color, a square is still a square, and a heart is still a heart.
Understanding that these attributes don’t change the shapes from what they are, will help your learner grasp other mathematical concepts like grouping, sorting, and classifying. For instance, the number in a group of 5 objects is still 5 regardless if they are made of oranges, shapes, teddy bears, or a mix!
This activity will get your learning looking at the attributes of shapes, and what makes them what they are. Simply instruct your learner to circle or dab the shapes that belong to the same family.
Includes 11 shape family cards
Pro Tip! Add different geometric shapes to a sensory bin and instruct your learner to pick out all the ‘triangles’, ‘squares’, or any other shape.
2. Numbered Shape Puzzles
The best way to encourage learning of a new concept is to combine it with other skills! Because compounding prior knowledge with new concepts creates new knowledge!
Strengthen your learners counting skills while exposing them to shapes with these numbered shape puzzles.
Includes 12 numbered shape puzzles
3. Build It Shape Cards
As we know, the best learning happens when we are fully engaged, and hands-on using multiple senses. So, encourage geometric learning by having your learner build shapes!
To build the different shapes, use creative materials like:
- Marshmallows
- Toothpicks
- Play-Doh
- Craft sticks
- Gems *adult supervision required
Get creative! You can use any kind of material you wish. Include your learner in the decision making and ask them what they would like to use to build their shapes.
Includes 12 Build It Shape Cards
4. Shape Match
Similar to the numbered shape puzzles, this activity will familiarize your learner with the attributes of different shapes, and introduce them to symmetry.
By finding the matching half of the shape, you learner will be using their differentiation skills.
Pro Tip! Get your learner moving and hide half the shapes in a sensory bin with your choice of materials.
Or, if possible, hide the shapes all around the learning environment next to a real life representation of the shape. For instance, place half the rectangle under a book. When you are looking for the other half, ask your learner “Can you find an example of a rectangle in the room?”
Includes 12 shape match cards
5. Trace the Shape Cards
Finally lets get your learner moving and grooving their pencils and markers to the shapes!
These tracing cards will strengthen your learner’s fine motor skills.
Geometry and Spatial Sense Activities
Learning about geometry and spatial sense can be fun and rewarding. It was always a pleasure for me to see my little learners make real world connections to what they were learning. I’m sure you will enjoy this too!
Soon you will see your learner identifying all kinds of shapes within the environment.
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Thank you for the kind words!