Fun geometric shapes for decoration. Learning Geometric Shapes: Games for Preschool Children

In today's article, I would like to talk about how easy and fun it is to learn geometric shapes with a baby, and why bother with geometry at such an early age. What games will be interesting for a baby from 1 year old, and what materials you will need for classes - read about all this in the article. In addition, here you will find some useful materials for download.

Why study geometric shapes with a toddler?

Geometric shapes are found everywhere, they can be seen in most of the objects around us: a round ball, a rectangular table, etc. Analyzing the similarity of surrounding objects with geometric shapes, the child wonderfully trains associative and spatial thinking.

1. The study of geometric shapes is useful for the overall development of the baby, expanding his knowledge about the world around him. If you introduce a child to forms at an early age, it will be much easier for him at school.

Many interesting educational games are based on the ability to distinguish geometric shapes. This is construction, games with, mosaic, mathematical tablet, etc. Therefore, the study of forms at such an early age will contribute to the further successful development of the child.

So, games for learning and consolidating knowledge about geometric shapes :

1. We name geometric shapes always and everywhere

If during games or reading books you come across any figure, be sure to pay attention to the baby and name it (“Look, the ball looks like a circle, and the cube looks like a square”). Even if it seems to you that the child is still unlikely to remember the names of the figures, pronounce them anyway, and they will certainly be deposited in his head. You can do this for up to a year. At first, point only to the main shapes (square, circle, triangle), then, when you realize that the baby has mastered them, start studying other shapes.

2. Playing Geometric Lotto

For the first lessons with the baby, it is better to use the loto, where there are only 3-4 figures. When the baby has mastered such a game well, gradually complicate the task. It is also useful for the first time to make all the pieces on the playing field of the same color and size. In this case, the child will focus on only one sign - the form, while other characteristics will neither distract nor prompt him.

You can impose on the playing field both cards with the image of figures, and three-dimensional figures. Good for this purpose Gyenes blocks (Ozone, KoroBoom), figurines from the sorter, insert frame.

Well, the most troublesome option is to purchase ready-made loto with geometric shapes.

3. Playing with the sorter

Around the age of 1 year, the child begins to notice that the figure he has chosen sorter (Ozone, labyrinth, My shop) can not be pushed into every hole. Therefore, during the game, it is necessary to focus on this: “So, here we have a circle - it doesn’t fit here, it doesn’t fit here, but where does it fit?”. At first, turning the figure at the right angle can be difficult for the baby, but it's not scary, it's a matter of practice. Most importantly, do not forget to pronounce the names of the figures all the time during the exciting process of “pushing through”, and the child will quietly remember them all.

Important! When choosing a sorter, pay attention to the fact that all the main geometric shapes are presented there, and not just hearts and crescents.

4. Playing with the frame insert

It will take such insert frame, which shows all the main figures. At its core, the game is similar to a sorter.

Here is another interesting shape recognition game - "" ( labyrinth, My shop). Despite the fact that the age on it is 3-5 years old, it will be of interest to a child of 2 years old and even a little earlier.

9. Learning forms from Doman cards

In fact, I believe that this method of studying forms is the most effective. If you are engaged in, the child will very quickly remember all the figures, and you will spend a minimum of effort on this. However, it should be noted that in order for the knowledge gained from Doman's cards to be deposited in the baby's head, they need to be fixed through other games (see above). Otherwise, the child will quickly forget everything that you showed him. Therefore, I recommend starting to look at Doman's cards with geometric shapes at about the age of 1 year, since at this time the baby becomes interested in sorters, insert frames, drawing, appliqué, etc. And, having studied the forms from the pictures, he will be able to use the knowledge gained in these games. By the way, you can buy Geometric Shapes cards, but buy HERE.

You can read about our experience in studying figures using Doman's cards.

10. Watch educational cartoons

And, of course, watching cartoons on the theme "Geometric shapes" does not hurt, now you can find a lot of them on the Internet. Here are some of them:

Instead of a conclusion

Very often, the process of teaching a child geometric shapes (and not only shapes) is perceived by parents solely as a constant examination of the child, i.e. they show the child a couple of times, for example, a square, and in the future, the training comes down to the question “Tell me, what kind of figure is this?”. This approach is extremely wrong. Firstly, because, like any person, a child does not like it too much when they arrange a knowledge test for him, and this only discourages him from studying. Secondly, before asking a kid about something, he needs to explain and show it a lot of times!

Therefore, try to keep screening questions to a minimum. Just repeat and repeat the information you are learning, be it the names of shapes or something else. Do this while playing and talking with your baby. And the fact that the child has learned everything, you will soon see for yourself without unnecessary checks.

Can you compose animals from geometric shapes?

Never tried?

Then you should look at the pictures on the site, where various animals are made up of geometric shapes. Offer these drawings to your children: they will surely appreciate their originality.

geometric world

In everything that surrounds us, you can find elements of geometry.

The table can be round or square, our houses are parallelepipeds, etc. Have you seen how artists paint? They first outline the contours of the object with a base of geometric shapes, and only then draw smooth lines around them. They see the world as geometric, and smooth or soft lines only hide the real essence of things.

In pedagogy for preschool children, there is even a whole direction where children are taught to see pure geometric shapes in everything. This is Mary's pedagogy. She believed that pure geometric shapes contribute to the better development of children and their orientation in the world. It cannot be said that this system is ideal, but it has found its supporters.

And now let's remember the works of artists of the era of modernism and postmodernism. Pictures full of squares, triangles, circles, trapeziums and all sorts of figures painted in different colors rise before my eyes. This is how the painters of the new era saw the world, and this must have been the basis. They tried to convey this world untouched by human hands. Their desire was to show that all of us and all the objects around us are made up of geometric shapes. Our whole world, if you look closely, is solid geometry.

How to use pictures with children

It is quite understandable that the question arises: artists are one thing, but why do children need such a vision of the world?

Of course, pictures with animals from geometric shapes do not aim to impose on the baby an extraordinary vision of the world. However, why not show that such an interpretation of everything that surrounds us is possible.

The pictures can be interesting and exciting to study the names of geometric shapes. From a simple display and repetition, the child quickly gets tired and begins to refuse classes, even if their mother conducts them at home. Another thing is if the figures need to be found in animals. There is genuine curiosity here.

When you have fully explored the names of the figures and their appearance with your child, ask the child to show his vision of the world. Let an animal or any object be taken as an example.

Ask: what geometric figure does it look like.

Such exercises:

1. - develop observation skills;
2. - improve logical and spatial thinking;
3. - contribute to the vision of an object hidden behind the outer shell.

The kid learns to see and observe what others cannot or cannot see. Is this not the education of an artist and a creative person?

And you can play the reverse game. Imagine that you are an abstract artist. Let one of you draw something consisting of geometric shapes, and the other will try to guess what is drawn. Postmodern painters often encoded their drawings on a canvas filled with squares, rectangles, trapezoids… children's magazines offered the same puzzles in the past.

You yourself can create such a puzzle: you just need a little imagination and a look at the world through the prism of geometry.

Click on the picture to download this exercise book for kids for free.
Examples of notebook pages with applications for children from 1 to 3 years old.

Applications for children from 4 to 7 years. Click on the picture to download this book.

It is very important to teach a child to identify various shapes by eye and be able to draw them correctly. Learn shapes with kids using our materials.

Why is it important to study geometric shapes with kids?

Each of the objects around us has its own shape. Look around. When you are driving or shopping, walking in the yard or outside the city, show your child in the form of a game how many round, triangular and square objects are around. Learning geometric shapes with kids will make them easier to understand at school. Show and explain to the child that, for example, the ball is round, the window is square, and so on. When you're out and about with your child and you're really not in a hurry, look around and you'll find all the geometric shapes in the surroundings.

How to use materials for studying figures with children?

Children will be able to learn the names of geometric shapes and understand what they really are if they can not only look at them, but also be able to touch them. That is, teaching materials should offer to draw a figure and recognize it among others.

Start giving your child materials that require you to circle each picture. Have your child run their finger across the picture along the lines of the shape. In addition, let the baby say the name of a geometric figure aloud every time he finds it among others or circles it with a pencil.

Geometry for kids is an ambiguous subject, because there are so many shapes, and there are even more ways to study them. Which of them should be taken for work in the first place and how to make the crumbs be interested in them? Let's discuss approaches that can be used to teach new material.

First you need to study with the children simple figures that will be understandable to them.

More complex concepts, such as a trapezoid or a rhombus, are best left for later. First, the baby needs to learn the simplest shapes: a circle, a triangle and a square. Having mastered this simple science, you will be able to start exploring new horizons. Psychologists and educators say that the circle is given to children to memorize the easiest way.

Time to study shapes

The first attempts to get acquainted with the figures can be started almost from birth. Game presentation of material will always be appropriate. Whether you show your baby a picture with a ball or a cube, you can always say in addition about their shape. Such an easy presentation will be perceived positively by the child.

A 2-year-old toddler should already be able to distinguish between:

1. triangle;
2. a circle;
3. square.

3-year-old baby additionally knows:

• oval;
• rhombus;
• rectangle.

Following them, you can begin to introduce the child to the trapezoid, ellipse, etc. Don't forget to include games and fun in your activities with your children.

To make classes interesting, you should select fascinating didactic materials.

The principle of mastering figures

Geometric figures for children in different periods are assimilated differently. Knowing the age characteristics, it will be easier for you to choose the appropriate technique and teach new concepts.

Choose a circle first to study. When the child learns it well, proceed to the next step. Beat the situation when a big circle came to visit the baby. Circle a circle with your child's finger, touch it with your palm, make an application based on it, adding round eyes and a nose.

Volumetric figures will be quite appropriate when studying forms. So the child will be involved in another sensory organ. The baby will always be able to touch the object, do some manipulations with it: build a tower, throw it, put it in a box. Such a multifaceted way of getting acquainted with a new concept will be very effective, because children at this age learn the world around them through visual-active thinking.

It is advisable to choose the same color and size for a start. Let all the concepts being studied be, for example, red, then the child will not have problems with the perception of the new, he will not be distracted by color and size differences.

It is very interesting when the figures are not just drawn on paper, but lively and voluminous.

Learning features

We list the features of child development, and in particular the perception of figures:

• At 1-2 years old, the baby compares them visually, learns to sort (we recommend reading:). The child begins to choose from the available figures the desired one and insert it into the appropriate hole.
• A grown up 2-year-old child is able to choose the called form from a number of presented figures.
• The development of a 3-year-old allows him to already name some figures on his own.

When playing and talking, always pay attention to the surrounding objects and compare them with already familiar geometric shapes. Walking in the park, you can also draw the attention of the little one to the appearance of triangles and circles, even outside the home. Constantly referring to this topic, you can easily find out what else needs to be worked out, and what the baby has already learned well.

The study continues in the following vein:

• comparison of flat and three-dimensional figures with the specified samples;
• search for a three-dimensional body using an existing flat image;
• reconstruction of geometric bodies (sculpting, drawing, cutting);
• analysis of a picture with a complex object, identification of its constituent parts.

Walking and playing with the child, you need to pay his attention to things of different forms.

learning

Looking for geometry around

The development of children is not represented without the development of geometric shapes, but familiarization should be carried out gradually. To start, select just one shape. Once you've mastered and consolidated it, move on to the next one. We advise you to start with a circle, as the easiest and most memorable figure.

Print the forms using a printer or draw by hand on an A4 sheet. Again, all figures must be one-color and one-dimensional. Take a few days to get to know the circle. On the first day, show the baby a circle and tell what features it has. On the second day, start looking for objects that resemble a circle. Seeing that the child can not cope due to age, help him. Having found the desired object, let the little one run along its edge in order to remember and fix such a shape. Subsequent forms are entered in the same way. For an example of such a lesson, watch the video on the Internet.

Thinking that the child is still too young to remember the names, still do not stop studying. Your labors will eventually be crowned with victory, because all classes are postponed in the children's head. Even before the toddler reaches one year of age, you can show and name the basic concepts of geometry, namely the square, circle and triangle. To do this, you should use special video tutorials.

Shape Discrimination Games

For the game you will need a small bag in which you need to put the already known forms. Show your child, for example, a triangle, and then ask them to find the same one in the bag. A little later, having realized the ratio of flat and volumetric bodies, show flat images, asking you to find the corresponding volumetric body, for example, a ball is a circle, a cube is a square. Having mastered this exercise, the child will eventually learn to show not figures, but real objects.

Lotto is a unique game that allows you to explore anything. We also easily learn figures with the help of loto. For the game, make cards with images of the concepts being studied (for toddlers, you should start with 3-4 forms) in duplicate. One of them is cut into separate picture cards. To begin with, make a loto with figures of the same color and size, and as the baby grows older, the variety of sizes and colors will increase. It is more difficult to search for color differing pictures.

Basic figures on the cards:

sort method

The sorter toy will be a great helper in learning geometry. Closer to the year, the baby, playing with this toy, discovers that each part has its own unique hole. Help the baby with hints: “You found a square, and this hole is round. Doesn't fit here. Let's look for a square hole?" You can make a simple sorter yourself. Take two boxes, make a round hole in one, and a square hole in the other. Invite your child to sort the cubes and balls into boxes. Accompany the actions of the little one with comments and naming the correct figure. In such a simple way, the baby will overcome all concepts. There are baffled sorters that prevent parts from mixing inside the cube. Such sorters are perfect for children who have difficulty distinguishing shapes.

For an interesting active study of figures, the sorter is perfect

Insert frames come in a variety of directions, including geometry. Frames with basic shapes require inserting a suitable part into the desired compartment. The exercise game resembles a sorter. Video examples are widely presented on the Internet.

Sort by features: the child must learn the differences in the manipulation of figures, for example, one object rolls and the other does not, or with the help of some it is possible to make a tower, while others are not suitable for this, etc. By the age of 5, the child will be able to sort objects according to two criteria: you can roll and you can’t build a tower (ball), you can’t roll, but you can put on top of each other (cylinder), you can’t roll (cube). At the preschool age of 6-7 years, the future first grader must perfectly master the initial primitive knowledge of geometry.

Applications

Performing applications will help to assimilate new concepts. Use various geometric bodies to plan your future application. The first samples should be made as simple as possible, for example, only triangles are glued to a triangular sheet, only squares to a square sheet. Let the baby decide for himself which figure to stick where.

Purchased or homemade applications are great for understanding geometry.

Future appliqué details can be cut out from various materials: felt, cardboard, velvet paper, etc. By about a year and a half, the baby will master the process of gluing parts to the necessary places according to the template and will be ready for a new stage. Now you can begin to perform the most primitive compositional application. The basis for the exercises can be taken from the following manuals:

• Series "School of seven dwarfs 1+".
• Educational stickers for kids.
• Great stickers. Fun geometry.

Tactile creativity

Tactile work with geometric bodies allows you to remember them faster. Any creative activity (drawing, modeling, cutting) will become a handy tool in mastering new concepts. On an A4 sheet, print or draw large shapes. Show your child how to draw some of them with crayons, felt-tip pens or paints. Draw hand in hand so that the child understands the principle. Over time, he will begin to cope without your help. Most often, children are most easily given a circle to draw.

Do not limit the creativity of young children to one drawing. Figures can be laid out from threads, folded from toothpicks, the ends of which can be fastened with plasticine for fixation, sculpted from dough and plasticine, created from mosaics, etc. Combine street games with learning: draw shapes on the pavement with crayons, sticks on the ground, collect acorns and pebbles, and then lay out squares and circles. You can get inspired with the help of a large number of photos and videos of classes presented on the network.

You can even train on asphalt using colored crayons

Using Doman cards

Many rightly consider the Doman method the most effective in the study of geometric shapes. With a minimum of effort, the child learns new concepts in the shortest possible time. Let's clarify one point: when we study new concepts with a child, this knowledge needs to be consolidated. It is possible through a variety of exercise games, which we talked about above. Unreinforced knowledge will be forgotten very quickly, almost as quickly as it was acquired. Most often, you can hear recommendations that it is better to postpone the start of classes on Doman cards until the age of 1 year. During this period, the child is already willingly engaged in sorters, applications, and insert frames. This method is often used in kindergartens.

It will be useful for children with the need to know the world around them through movement to offer games in which they need to move along a certain trajectory. The game track or path imitates this or that figure. Such an exercise will allow preschool kinesthetic learners to quickly learn new concepts. Game complexes and towns also help.

You can include elements of familiarity with geometry in any active game

The game-exercise "Go around the figure" will be appropriate for children from one to two years old. The baby, who has mastered walking well, is already ready to participate in the game. With the help of chalk or rope, mark the shape, mark the start and finish, which are one point. For the background, turn on funny songs. As a task, invite the children to walk around the image by walking, jumping, crawling, etc. As the baby grows older, the tasks become more difficult: you can ask to get around by tossing the ball or carrying a spoon with a ball in your hand.

A good game for three-year-olds is catching up using figure houses. Mark houses on the floor or ground. These can be pre-cut large figures, or they can simply be drawn with chalk or houses made of sticks. In such houses (circles, squares and triangles), a child can hide from the driver only if he names the shape correctly.

When we learn the basics of geometry, we can use modern tools. Developing videos and cartoons telling about various geometric shapes will be useful. Pay attention to such cartoons as: "Kids" and "The Engine Chuh-Chukh".

There are a lot of techniques for children representing geometric shapes on the modern market. Below are the main ones, as well as games that develop the child.

Nowadays, the early development of the baby is of great importance. The crumbs begin to be taught almost from the hospital. There are many games, books, video and audio materials that help children quickly master such simple - at first glance - topics as letters, numbers, shapes, colors. Especially popular are cards showing geometric shapes for kids. This guide is clear and concise. It allows the child to quickly and easily master the necessary knowledge.

When to start learning geometric shapes?

In general, it is possible to acquaint a child with forms from the first months. There is nothing wrong if, in a playful way, without annoying the baby, you show him pictures or toys, clearly pronouncing the name of the figure (circle, square, etc.).

Thus, by the age of two, the child should know three forms well:

1. triangle;
2. a circle;
3. square.

By the age of three, this list should include:

• oval;
• rhombus;
• rectangle.

By the way, much attention is paid to the study of geometric shapes in the method of Maria Montessori. In her materials there are several games that help the child quickly learn to identify the shapes of objects. We will talk about them further.

Why study geometric shapes for a baby?

Much has already been said about the benefits of early development. It is the active learning of the baby in the period from birth to three years that forms his creativity and fluency of thinking, diligence and love for knowledge, the ability to quickly assimilate information.

The study of forms is necessary for several other reasons.

• The whole world around consists of figures (a circle is a car wheel, a plate, the sun; a square is a window, a chair seat, etc.).
• Preparing for school - the sooner the child masters simple knowledge, the easier it will be for him to study at school.
• The study of forms will allow the baby to play those games that are inaccessible to children who do not know what a circle, square, etc. are.
• Studying geometric shapes, the child expands his horizons, trains the brain, increases vocabulary.

5 rules for learning geometric shapes

It is worth remembering that all the information that seems elementary to us is new and often incomprehensible to children. With geometric shapes, this rule almost always works. Therefore, if a child confuses a circle with a square and does not want to correct himself, be patient and do not scold the baby for mistakes.

For faster and easier assimilation of knowledge by the crumbs, follow simple tips.

1. Point your child to geometric shapes in everyday life. Showing the book to the child, say that it is rectangular, showing the saucer, give it the definition of “circle”.
2. Try to get feedback. Find out from the baby which category the house, table, pillow belongs to. Watch the instructional video and ask your child to describe what they saw.
3. Use toys of regular geometric shapes. Buy crumbs round and triangular molds, cubes, a ball.
4. Play games that require knowledge of the names of the pieces (see below).
5. Watch videos and cartoons about shapes (like "Baby Einstein").

Games "Geometric shapes" for children

sorter

This is one of the first educational toys for the baby, which allows you to learn about the properties of different figures. The essence of the sorter is that for a certain hole you need to pick up a toy of the appropriate shape (ball, cube, and others). The child very quickly begins to understand what's what.

Such a toy not only teaches the little one to quickly distinguish figures of different geometric shapes, but also trains fine motor skills of the fingers, and also develops logical thinking.

Montessori games

Maria Montessori, as mentioned above, attached great importance to geometric shapes in the developmental games of the baby. In her methodology, there are several ways to introduce a child to geometry in a playful way. For example:

• Place the figures in an opaque bag or bag. Let the baby take one toy in turn and, without taking it out, determine what shape it is.
• For an older child, you can come up with the following task: say a word-definition, for example, “ride”. The kid must name the forms that have this property.
• You can invite the baby to name all the shapes with or without corners, with or without edges.
• Creative version of the game with figures. Ask the child to dream up and say what a circle, square, triangle looks like.

In the Montessori method, there is a special device called "Frames and inserts." This is a kind of analogue of the sorter, which we talked about above.

Drawings and stencils

If your child likes to draw, then use this to teach him to distinguish between shapes. Draw a house together. Speak all the details: The windows are square, the roof is a triangle, etc.

You can also offer the child stencils. You can cut them yourself from thick paper or buy ready-made ones.

Outlining this or that figure, the kid will learn to draw them (“fill his hand”), and your comments (this is a circle, this is a triangle) will help the child remember their names faster.

Doman cards

The Doman method is very popular among parents interested in the early development of their child. It involves the use of visual cards for better assimilation of the knowledge gained by the baby. Doman has a separate set of cards dedicated to geometric shapes. It can be bought or downloaded on the Internet (there you can also find a video about this technique).

Literature and didactic material

Below are the most popular and effective methods and materials for introducing children to geometric shapes.

• "School of the Seven Dwarfs"

In the cycle of books for the early development of children "School of the Seven Dwarfs" there are two devoted to forms: "Square and Circle" (for children from birth to one year old), "Form. Color "(for children from 1 year to 2 years). The books show the main figures in a large and visual way.

• Geometric figures. soft mosaic

A very convenient and bright way to introduce the child to the forms. The mosaic is made of safe soft material. It will be interesting for the kid to consider its details and collect pictures from them.

• coloring pages

There are many such books on the market today. You can select "Smart coloring. Smeshariki" with children's favorite characters from the cartoon of the same name.

• stickers

Reusable stickers will also be very useful during the period of teaching the child "geometry for the little ones." These stickers can be applied anywhere! In the bathroom, in the nursery, in the kitchen. Offer the baby a game: in the environment you need to find objects of one kind or another.

Cartoons about geometric shapes

Conclusion

Teaching and introducing a child to geometric shapes is not only important, but also very interesting! Show your imagination, come up with your own games and tasks for the child, show interesting videos, and he will answer you with love and gratitude.