3D Shapes

Teaching 3D shapes in kindergarten is always a challenge for me.  We begin my creating a picture dictionary. 

I give the children a table with the 3D shapes on it and a place to write the name for each shape.  The children are responsible for copying environmental print in order to fill in their own dictionaries. 

During the unit, we play several games.  Below you will find some of our favorites:

• Can You Guess My Name:  Say a riddle such as... I have a curved side.  Let the kids guess.  I look like a ball.  What am I?  a sphere.  Show the shape.    Always start with the vaguest clue and get more specific as you give more clues.
• Find a __:  say the name of a 3D shape.  Have the children travel around the room to locate the specified shape and point to it.  Continue until interest wanes.

At the end of the week, we go on a shape walk to locate 3D shapes in our environment.  This time I will point out that most of the shapes we see are 3D shapes, but they have similarities to the 2D counterpart.

During this walk, the children sketch drawings of their objects in a math journal.  When we return to the classroom, the drawings will be outlined in black felt pen and colored.  Once the drawings are complete the children will label each drawing using a pencil.

The Shape Walk

Shapes are all around us.  We see shapes everywhere we go.  To teach shapes to little ones, you only have to go as far as the outdoors.

The Shape Walk
With so much time spent using electronics and indoors nowadays, getting the kiddos outside as much as possibly is a high priority for me.  So, we begin our unit with a shape walk. 

Before going outside, I show pictures of the shapes we will be looking for... circle, oval, triangle, square, and rectangle.  Then, we head outdoors. 

As we take our walk, I allow the children to take turns snapping pictures of the various shapes we encounter.  At a later time, these pictures can be used to create a photo story.

When the children locate shapes, I make sure they are using the appropriate vocabulary to identify it.  If not, I provide gentle reminders as needed.

When we return to the classroom, each child receives a 4 X 4 piece of white and draws his/her favorite shape from our walk.  We then use the pictures to graph the shapes.

Shape Sort

Toward the end of our unit on shapes I introduce the children to sorting.  We sort by color, shape, and size.

I have a set of shape cards that are printed on 3 different colors of card stock.  I laminated them and cut them out to use in the pocket chart.

First, we practice sorting in the pocket chart whole group.  Once the class gets the hang of it we begin sorting through "silent teach".  The kids love this!!

Explain silent teach to the class by saying the following: 

Today we are going to practice sorting in a very fun way.  Silent teaching is when you learn through watching and doing without talking.  I will place this card (a picture of a stop sign would work great) in the pocket chart.  It means there is no more talking until I take the picture out again.


I am going to place several cards in the pocket chart and you will have to try to figure out where the next card needs to be placed.  After several turns, I will hold out a sorting title (color, shape, or size) and someone will have to label our sort.  We will do this several times.


Remember that the stop sign placed in the corner of the pocket chart means NO talking.  I will point to you when it is your turn to come up to the chart.  Let's begin.

You will do exactly as explained above.  Change up the sorts several times and make sure to allow each child at least one chance to come up and participate.

After sorting through silent teach, give the children a set of shape cards.  Have each child figure out a way to sort his/her cards. 

I try to pass out 3 different varieties (one for each... color, shape, and size).  This way the children are not looking at their neighbors and I can get a more authentic representation of what each child knows.

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!