Sort the Shapes

What You Need

A variety of shapes cut out of construction or printer paper, and a flat surface.

What To Do

Cut out the shapes from the shape template or use it as an example to draw your own shapes, and then cut out the various shapes from sheets of paper. Begin sorting the shapes by type or by their differences. To start, you could put all of the circles on one side, and all of the triangles on another side. Give your child a chance to identify the “rule” you were using to sort the shapes, which in this case would be circles versus triangles.

What To Know

It’s really important for your child to see a wide range of each type of shape, like several different triangles, to help them begin to understand that there are many different triangles, rectangles, or squares, rather than just one type of each. Try and help your child think about what all triangles, rectangles, or squares have in common. When your child begins to understand these concepts, you could even let them try sorting the shapes for you!