The Shape Hokey Pokey

There are a lot of ways you can check for understanding, especially when it comes to shapes, colors, etc. One fun way I do it is by doing the Hokey Pokey.  I hand out a set of attribute blocks to each child. Then it's easy to have them stand by their desks and grab the correct block as I call out a shape.

Ex: "Square!"
Proceed to sing: "You put your square in. You put your square out. You put your square in and you shake it all about." Etc.
Give them a couple of seconds between verses to put down the old shape and grab the next one you call out. Children who pick the wrong shape can quickly exchange for the correct one without embarrassment.

You can also do this for colors. I sometimes use the unifix cubes for colors, since there are more to select from.

If you don't have attribute blocks, or any of the other manipulatives, just run off a set of shapes on colored tag and cut out to keep in baggies. I've also had the different shapes on plain paper. Then, as a whole class project, we colored individual shapes certain colors (they would follow my guide.) Ex: square is blue, triangle is red, circle is yellow, and so forth. They would cut out the shapes and place in baggies, and keep as their own personal set of shapes.