Matching shapes can be a great way to introduce new shapes to toddlers and preschoolers. This is a fun activity that toddlers will love to do outside!
This summer hasn’t been very fair for the kids.
Louis has to nap still. And the older boys get to go do things without him and he misses out.
This particular time, the older boys went to the pool with Dad while Louis napped. He woke up early and I think was feeling kind of left out, kind of sad and mopey. Although he never did complain about not getting to go to the pool. I think he maybe forgot where they were (and I wasn’t about to remind him… no need to start a tantrum, right?).
But he was begging for an activity to do (or an ‘activio’ as he calls them). I had nothing planned. Bad planning on my part.
He mentioned he wanted to paint on the sidewalk again. Bells went off in my head, I have this brand new patio that I’ve been waiting to do a sidewalk chalk activity on!
So I started to setup an activity, much like the tracing squiggly lines activity we’ve done in the past (but this time on smooth pavement!).
Louis had a complete (and I mean complete) meltdown.
He absolutely did not want to do his activity on the patio! No way! He wanted it to be on the front sidewalk like when we painted with trucks.
After letting him calm down for a bit, I let the idea go and we were inside hanging out. Before I knew it, he left and went outside and did this activity completely on his own. Then came in to tell me he wanted more to do (and it had to be done in green chalk this time)!
Ever wonder what to do with a demanding two year old?
This time, I drew several pairs of shapes on the cement.
I drew matching circles, squares and triangles.
I had no idea if Louis knew his shapes yet (why do I feel like I forget all these things with my third?) so I wanted to keep it simple.
Can you find and erase the matching shapes?
I asked Louis to tell me one of the shapes. And he found and told me the first circle shape he found.
He went on to ‘erase’ the circle using a paintbrush and water.
My kids love it when I break out one of the ‘real’ paintbrushes for the house. They think they’re big stuff when they get to use real tools like this, so its always a win!
After he completely erased away one circle I asked him if he could find another circle that matched that one. He did!
And then we repeated with squares and triangles!
I’d sort of quiz him while he was erasing each shapes to see if he remembered what shape he was erasing.
I was shocked that he knew them all pretty easily. He did need reminding of the name of the square once, but if I asked him which one was the square, he knew it right off the bat!
I was also shocked at how thoroughly he erased each shape. He spent a good amount of time on each one clearing it away. And if he noticed it came back after it dried, he’d go back and erase it again!
You may also love this jumping activity to find the matching shapes!
5 weekly plans of activities for each one & two year olds!
Get your weekly activity plans here.
Find & Erase the Matching Shapes on handsonaswegrow.com
No comments:
Post a Comment