Materials
music
6 colorful tag board shapes; circle, triangle, square, rectangle, oval, diamond. bold markerInstructions
l Set out pictures or objects of all six shapes (circle, square, triangle, rectangle,
diamond, and oval).
l Use a bold marker to draw a smiley face on both sides of the tag board circle.
What to Do
1. Invite the children to sit in a circle.
2. Hand the six paper shapes to six children, evenly spaced about the circle.
3. Explain that when the music starts, the children are to pass the shapes around
the circle.
4. After a few moments, stop the music. The children who are holding shapes
should carry those shapes to an object in the room with a similar shape.
Encourage the children to verbalize their comparisons, using a sentence such
as "The doorknob is round, like this circle," and "The book is a rectangle."
5. Explain that whoever ends up with the smiley face circle has to walk around
the circle and give a high five to all the children before sitting back down.
6. After the children return to their places on the floor, continue the game until
everyone has had several chances to identify shapes in the classroom, or until
the children are finished playing the game.
Assessment
To assess the children's learning, consider the following:
l Can the children correctly match the shapes?
l Display the six shapes and a bucket of shape objects. Can small groups of
children sort the shape objects onto the large paper shapes?
l Invite groups of children to lie on the floor and use their bodies together to
create shapes.