2D Shapes Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers

It's never too early to nurture a toddler. Shapes is the perfect toddler learning subject. When I'm busy teaching, I set up a "busy box" that I can take with me when I teach as well as great picture books and other activities. 

A Shapes Busy Box Example

When we are going out and about, I try to keep all the activities that toddler is to do during her “preschool” time in one box! I found a great carry-all craft box like this one (affiliate link) that has a large compartment. It works really well, and I need it to be self-contained since I usually have my arms full of other things for the class that I teach!

Here is an example of some things I put in my toddler's busy box.

1. Two books about shapes (see below for a long list of options!)
2. Lacing hearts
3. Two shapes activities from a Life Over C’s product. One is a matching game, and the other is a coloring booklet.
4. Popsicle stick shapes with Velcro dots to connect them.
5. Binoculars for a “shape hunt,” along with some shaped stickers and crayons for decorating.
6. (Not pictured) Shape pattern tiles and templates from various sources.
7. (Not pictured) A shapes cube puzzle. She likes the satisfaction of doing the puzzle, and she likes to correct herself and be silly when she does it wrong on purpose.

With an adult to watch her in her toddler school, she can have fun while I teach my reading and writing class.

Great Shapes Picture Books for Toddlers

We love thick toddler board books for the youngest learners. There are so many others to choose from! Here are some of the best for the very young.

• Baby’s Shapes by Karen Katz is a thick, study board book with pages for each shape and real-day items next to them.
• Shapes Are Everywhere! by Charles Ghigna and illustrated by Ag Jatkowska provides a simple rhyme about the shapes of things, with pictures of children and parents going about their daily business.
• Ship Shapes by Stella Blackstone and illustrated by Siobhan Bell asks children what shapes they see in the fabric collages depicting kids digging for treasure after sailing to an island.
• Shape Capers by Cathryn Falwell pictures kids playing with items of various shapes as it teaches about the shapes.
• Color Zoo and Color Farm by Lois Ehlert creates animals in the zoo and farm, respectively, by using various shapes. Bright colors, shapes, and animals are all labeled in these books.
• Museum Shapes by the MOMA asks what shapes are to be found in various famous paintings. It is a fun way to introduce classic modern art as well as shapes!
• A Circle Here, A Square There by David Diehl gives kid friendly graphics as it shows what shapes kids see everyday with friendly rhymes. 
• Shape by Shape by Suse MacDonald provides a clever riddle for the reader by providing a different shape and a clue on each page. The last page shows the completed animal.

Shapes Activities for Toddlers

When she was young, she knew heart, moon, and star,  and basic ones like circle and square. She called ovals “footballs” and got excited when she saw them!

I set up some printable activities that we can use to help us I have been thinking for weeks that we needed to focus on learning the shapes.

• Lacing cards. As shown in my busy box above, lacing cards fit nicely into the shapes theme. Lacing is great for practicing fine motor skills. If you do not have your own cards, use the printable cards and put them on cardstock or even thin cardboard for lacing practice. (Note: cereal box cardboard is thin enough to punch holes in with a hole punch. 
• Shape hunt. Take pictures of the different shapes you find and put them in a book. I wrote about this in the the Learn with Play ebook.
• Magazine shape hunt. Find pictures in magazine and put them together in a book.
• Shape matching. See my 2D Shapes Activities product. Practice by playing a matching game with shapes, or Go Fish. My son loved playing Go Fish when he was a toddler and preschooler; we made everything into a Go Fish game!
• Sort by shape. See my 2D Shapes Activities product! Use the printable with images of everyday items and sort the items into the correct "pocket" to make a shape sort page.

Shapes Activities for Preschoolers

Once your little one can recognize different shapes, then it's time to play with shapes, just like the authors of the book did.

• Shapes exploration. Cut out felt shapes -- circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles to begin with. See what things you can make with those shapes on a felt board. For example, a circle and a triangle easily become an ice cream cone!
• Tangram Shapes.  Tangrams are a set of specific shapes that fit into a square. Once you cut them apart, you can make your own images by rearranging the shapes. There is not a standard size for tangrams, so I've included a template of tangrams with my 2D Shapes Activities, as well as templates of various images to create.  Many of the picture books feature ships, submarines, and treasures created out of shapes. These templates are just another example, and using Tangrams, your little learner will be the one figuring out the design using shapes.
• Pattern Blocks Cards. Pattern Block cards are always a lot of fun. See more than a dozen pattern block cards in my 2D Shapes Activities product.