Counting, Color, Shapes, and Graphing

 

Go Boom, A Family "Trick-Taking" Card Game

 

LINK

Free Printable Shape Scarecrow

Get It Here

FREE Shape and Counting Worksheets

Get Them Here

Playdough Shapes: Fun Way to Teach Preschoolers Geometry

Link Here

Tangram Shape Up! Game Freebie

I took tangrams and traced them on a sheet of paper. I only used one of each shape. Then I numbered the shapes 1 through 6. I've included a copy of my mat below. You're welcome to click (to get the bigger size) and save to print out on your own.

There are 2 ways to play this game.

#1 - Place the actual tangrams in an empty tissue box (what would I do without those empty boxes to draw from!)
Player pulls out a tangram shape and places it on the corresponding spot.
If he already has that shape covered, put the shape back and lose that turn.
First person to completely cover their mat wins!

#2 - Roll a die. You can vary this by using a die with tally marks, or with the number words.
Cover the corresponding numbered shape.
If  that shape is already covered, player loses that turn.
First person to completely cover their mat wins!

Our Easter Bunny Bags

Instead of bringing their baskets to school for the egg hunt, we made our own Bunny Bags.
After coloring this template (you can download!), we cut out the ears, eyes, nose, teeth, and cheeks, and glued them to the bag. The ears go on the back of the bag, facing forward.

Until we get this result. (The top is the opening. Don't forget the whiskers!)

And, of course, no bunny is finished until you add the cotton tail!

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.