Shapes Are Everywhere

This week my class used straws to make 2D and 3D shapes. The children were asked to make squares, triangles, rectangles, and rhombuses (diamonds).

The challenge... to make a pyramid, rectangular prism or cube. The challenge was on as excitement was building. At first, I got only 2D shapes: rectangles, squares, rhombus.

I suggested the use of a stapler and the creativity began. Rectangular based with line segments from each corner. Rectangular tops. Is that a rectangular prism I see? I look over and I have shape chains. The chain contains tons of 2D shapes all strung together.

Buzzz.....Buzzzz.....Buzzzz..... Can you hear the excitement?

I think the buzz was heard all the way down the hall.

How Do You Make Straw Shapes:

1.Show the children several different examples of any shape made out of lines... older kiddos can be shown both 2D and 3D shapes.

2.Give each child a large handful of straws.

3.Demonstrate how to pinch the end of the straw together and insert it into the opened end of another straw.

4.Allow your child to bend and attach straws to make as many shapes as possible.

5.Shapes can even be linked together for another fun alternative.

6.Older children can use tape or a stapler and experiment with creating 3D shapes like cubes and rectangular prisms.

No straws on hand... experiment with using toothpick and marshmallows. The added bonus... getting to eat the shapes when you are done playing!

Big Bolt Construction Set

I received a $1000 grant to purchase hands-on items for my kindergarten classroom from the local A+ Teacher's Credit Union. One of the many items I purchased was a Big Bolt Construction Set from Lakeshore. I would never have bought this item with my own money because $90 is alot for this toy, but it will work great for at least one of the standards my kindergarten kids must master: the student is expected to identify parts that, when separated from the whole, may result in the part or the whole not working, such as cars without wheels and plants without roots.

Since it is still about a month before school is starting I have been letting the boys slowly play with a few of my new classroom items. This construction set was a success!!!

Little J was able to ...

•hammer

•use a wrench

•twist and turn the nuts and bolts

•enhance his hand eye coordination and fine motors skills

•and create his own designs

... all while using his imagination and most importantly having fun.

I guess if a toy really does all of those things and it isn't a one time wonder it might just be worth the money as a Christmas gift or something similar.

Even Daddy got in on the fun. Building just runs in the family. G built my last house. Honestly, electric wiring, framing, etc. He hired out stuff he just didn't want to bother with, but for the most part he worked on everything himself. T Man has been reading Lego direction since four and wants to be an architect when he gets older. I guess I'll have to wait and see about Little J.

Above is one of the many constructions we built during our playtime. We had so much fun.