8 great activities to promote shape and measure

Shape and measure is an important aspect of mathematical development. Children need to learn about shapes in their environment and the concept of measure in order to gain spatial awareness and mathematical understanding.

Here are 8 easy to do activities to promote shape and measure

1. Shape hunt in the environment – Children are natural investigators and love to hunt for things. Practitioners can support this interest alongside promoting shape recognition. Using some large cut out 2D shapes explain to the children that you are looking for things in the environment that are shaped as a square, circle, triangle etc. Allow the children to try out different items against the cut out shapes to compare.
2. Potato shape printing – This creative activity is a great way to get children talking about shapes. Raw potatoes can be cut in half and used for printing. Simple shapes such as squares and triangles can be cut into the potato and used to make marks with the paint. The children will enjoy looking at and talking about the marks that they are making.
3. Car races – This is a great activity to promote measuring. Simply place a long cardboard tube at an angle to provide a slope and measure out a long strip of paper to add to the bottom. Encourage the children to take turns releasing small world cars at the top of the slope and watch them roll down the tube and out onto the paper. Practitioners can add numbers to the paper for children to measure how far their car rolled.
4. Measuring bodies – Bodies are a fun and easy way to practise measuring. This activity can be carried out inside using large sheets of paper and pens or outside using the ground and chalks. Children can take it in turns to lie on the ground and draw around each other. They can then use rulers or tapes to measure the different parts of their body such as their arms, legs, feet etc. The children can then compare their measurements with their friends or the practitioners.
5. Size sorting – This activity can be adapted to use a variety of resources, for example shells, buttons or bears. Give the children a group of different sized objects and three sorting bowls. Ask them to sort the objects into small, medium and large using the bowls. The children will need to compare and contrast the items against one another in order to sort them into the correct bowl.
6. Masking tape shapes – Masking tape can be used to mark out large shapes on the floor. The children can then use construction items such as lego or wooden bricks to cover the tape and build along the lines. This will enable the children to develop shape recognition and support measuring skills.
7. Measuring jugs – Sand and water are a great way for children to experience early measure. Adults can provide measuring jugs for the children to transfer sand and water between containers using marker pens to indicate particular measurements that the children can try to meet.
8. Space collages – Shapes can be useful when creating space collages with the children. The adult can cut out a number of different shapes from a range of materials and allow the children to use the shapes to create aliens and space rockets on their picture. Children will gain an understanding of the different shapes and how they can be used together to create an image.