20+ Best Shapes Activities for Preschoolers that You Might Know

Have you ever seen a preschooler point out a triangle or square in their environment? It’s an incredible moment of discovery and excitement as they begin understanding the shapes that make up the world around them.

As a preschool teacher, you constantly look for fun and engaging ways to help your little ones learn the necessary skills. Shape recognition is one of the essential skills to develop at this stage. 

Shapes Activities for Preschoolers

Sorting Shapes Activity

Use shape sorting toys or homemade shapes from colored paper and cardboard. Show your child how to match each shape with its slot, discussing their characteristics like sides and corners.

This activity teaches shapes and colors while boosting fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

Play Dough Shapes Activity

Grab colorful play dough and a flat surface. Help your child make basic shapes like circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles by rolling or flattening the dough.

Encourage them to use these shapes to create pictures, like a train or house. This activity teaches shapes and colors, improves fine motor skills, and sparks creativity.

Match the Shapes Activity

Get shape cutouts and a board with matching outlines. Show your child how each shape fits into a specific place on the board.

Have them match each shape to its outline by comparing edges and sides. This activity helps with learning shapes, colors, cognitive skills, hand-eye coordination, and problem-solving.

Paint Your Shapes Activity

Set up a painting area with shape outlines on paper, paint, and brushes. Let your child paint inside the shapes with different colors.

Encourage them to discuss the shapes and colors as they paint. This activity boosts creativity, fine motor skills, and hand-eye coordination.

Shape Bingo Game

For this activity, you’ll need Shape Bingo cards and markers or chips. Give each child a card with different shapes like squares, circles, and triangles.

Call out shapes one by one, and have the kids cover the matching shapes on their cards with markers or chips. The first to cover a row, column, or diagonal and shout “Bingo!” wins. This game helps with shape recognition and listening skills.

Trace the Shapes Activity

You’ll need construction paper, markers, small items like buttons or beans, and glue. Draw large shapes like circles and squares on separate sheets. Show your child how to glue the small items along the shapes’ outlines.

This activity teaches shapes, improves fine motor skills, and boosts creativity. It’s a fun mix of art and learning!

Shapes Puzzle Activity

Grab cardstock, markers, and scissors. Draw and cut shapes like circles, squares, and triangles into halves. Mix up the pieces and have your child match the halves to complete each shape.

Using different colors for each shape can help. This activity teaches shapes and problem-solving and improves fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

Shape Collage Activity

Gather colored paper, scissors, glue, and a large white sheet of paper. Cut out various shapes in different sizes and colors. Give these to your child along with the white paper.

Encourage them to create pictures or designs by arranging and gluing the shapes. This activity helps with shape and color recognition, fine motor skills, and creativity.

Shape Math Game

For this activity, you’ll need a large sheet of paper, markers, and cut-out shapes (circles, squares, triangles, etc.). Label the paper “Shape Math” and attach the shapes, noting their sides and vertices.

Explain to your child that they’ll learn about shapes by counting sides and vertices and matching them to the labels. This helps reinforce shape recognition and basic geometry in a fun way.

I-Spy with Shapes Game

Give your child an I-Spy with Shapes sheet, a marker or crayon, and a list of shapes. Explain that they need to find and count the shapes on the sheet, like circles, squares, and triangles. They can write their counts at the bottom.

To add more fun, turn it into a timed challenge. This game helps kids learn shapes, numbers, and improves their counting and observation skills.

Shapes Sensory Bin

Fill a tray with sand or rice and bury various shape cutouts inside. Tell your child they are on a shape treasure hunt and need to dig to find the hidden shapes.

As they find each shape, have them identify and describe its features, like the number of sides. You can also make it a sorting game by grouping shapes by type or color. This activity helps with shape recognition, sensory exploration, and sorting skills.

Shapes Count and Clip Activity

For this activity, you can use printable counting cards, small clothespins, and markers. Each card shows shapes and three number options. Your child counts the shapes and clips the clothespin to the correct number.

Show them how to count and clip for the first card, then let them try the rest. This activity improves counting, number recognition, and fine motor skills.

Shape Charades

For this game, use shape cards with different shapes like circles, squares, and triangles. Explain that each player takes turns picking a card and acting out the shape without speaking while others guess.

Show an example by forming shapes with your body, like making a round shape for a circle. This game helps kids learn shapes, boosts creativity, and improves coordination while having fun.

Popsicle Sticks Shape

For this activity, gather colored popsicle sticks and shape cards showing various shapes like triangles, squares, and hexagons. Show your child the cards and explain that they will use the popsicle sticks to recreate the shapes on the cards.

Demonstrate how to arrange the sticks to form each shape, then let your child try it themselves. This game helps them learn about shapes, improve fine motor skills, and boost hand-eye coordination, all while being fun and creative.

Sticker Shapes Activity

Give your child shape templates and colored round stickers. They will place stickers along the outlines of the shapes like circles, squares, and triangles.

Encourage them to use different colors and create patterns if they want. This activity helps kids learn shapes and colors while improving their fine motor skills and creativity.

Shapes Pattern Activity

Provide your child with a pattern sheet and shape cutouts. The sheet will have rows of shapes with repeating patterns and spaces for your child to complete.

Show them how to identify and continue the pattern by adding the correct shape in the empty spaces. This activity helps kids learn about patterns and shapes and boosts their logical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Shapes Wand

You’ll need craft sticks or straws, colorful foam sheets or construction paper, glitter (optional), glue, and scissors. Cut out different shapes from the foam or paper.

Let your child decorate the shapes and glue them onto the craft sticks or straws. Use the wands for imaginative play, storytelling, or to identify shapes in real life. This activity teaches shapes, improves fine motor skills, and fosters creativity.

Garden of Shapes

Use colored paper, markers, glue, scissors, and a large sheet of white paper or poster board. Help your child cut out shapes like circles, squares, and triangles from the colored paper. Draw stems and leaves on the white paper, and let your child arrange the shapes to make flowers.

Once they’re happy with the design, glue the shapes and add details like clouds, sun, and grass with markers or extra shapes. This activity teaches shapes, boosts fine motor skills, and encourages creativity.

Geoboard Shapes

Use a geoboard or DIY version with foam, push pins, rubber bands, and shape cards. Show your child how to stretch rubber bands around the pegs to make shapes, using the cards for ideas or letting them create their own.

Begin with simple shapes like squares and triangles, then move to more complex ones. This activity boosts fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness, and basic geometry understanding.

Feed the Shape Monsters

Wrap empty boxes with colored paper to make monster bodies. Cut out shapes like circles, squares, and triangles, and add eyes and mouths to each monster.

Tell your child that each monster wants a specific shape. Have them feed the shapes to the correct monster. This fun activity helps shape recognition, fine motor skills, and hand-eye coordination.

Shape Stamping Activity

You’ll need sponges, scissors, paint, and paper for the Shape Stamping Activity. Cut the sponges into different shapes like circles, squares, and triangles. Pour paint into trays and lay a large sheet of paper on the table.

Let your child dip the sponge shapes into the paint and stamp them onto the paper. Encourage them to create patterns or scenes and talk about the shapes and colors they’re using. This activity helps with fine motor skills and shape recognition and offers a fun, creative art experience.

Shapes Rocket Activity

For this fun activity, you’ll need colored paper, scissors, glue, and a blank sheet of paper. Using the colored paper, cut out various shapes, such as circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles.

Explain to your child that they will use these shapes to build a rocket. Show them how to use the triangle for the rocket’s nose, rectangles for the body, and circles for windows. Let them glue the shapes onto the blank sheet to create their rocket. This activity helps with fine motor skills, shape recognition, and creativity.

Shapes Stone Painting

You’ll need smooth stones, acrylic paints, paintbrushes, and a palette for this craft. Start with clean, dry stones and set up your paints and brushes.

Show your child how to paint shapes like circles, squares, and triangles on the stones. Let them choose colors and get creative with patterns. After the paint dries, use the stones for shape recognition games or imaginative play. This activity boosts shape and color recognition, enhancing fine motor skills and creativity.

Shapes with Toothpicks Activity

You’ll need toothpicks, colorful play dough, and a flat surface for this craft. Roll small playdough balls to use as connectors and show your child how to stick toothpicks into the balls to create shapes like squares, triangles, and hexagons.

Encourage them to experiment with different shapes and discuss each shape’s properties, such as sides and vertices. This activity helps with shape recognition, fine motor skills, and spatial awareness, making learning about geometry fun and interactive.

Shapes with Cotton Buds

You’ll need cotton buds, small pieces of tape, and a flat surface for this craft. Cut the cotton buds in half to use as sides for shapes. Show your child how to use tape to connect the cotton buds into shapes like triangles, squares, and hexagons.

As they build, talk about each shape’s properties, like the number of sides and vertices. This activity boosts shape recognition, fine motor skills, and spatial awareness while making learning fun and interactive.

Pipe Cleaner Shapes Activity

Give your child colorful pipe cleaners and a flat surface. Show them how to bend and twist the pipe cleaners to make basic shapes like circles, squares, and triangles. Let them try making these shapes on their own.

They can create more complex shapes like pentagons and hexagons as they get more comfortable. This activity helps shape recognition and fine motor skills while making learning fun. Celebrate their creations and display their shapes for everyone to see.

Shapes Lacing Activity

You’ll need colorful cardboard or foam shapes, a hole punch, yarn or laces, and plastic needles for this activity. Cut out various shapes and punch holes around their edges. Thread the yarn through the needle and show your child how to lace the yarn through the holes.

Encourage your child to lace the shapes, which helps with shape recognition, hand-eye coordination, and fine motor skills. As they improve, try more complex shapes and colors. Once finished, display their creations or use them as decorations.

Cardboard Shapes Play

For this activity, you’ll need cardboard, scissors, markers or paint, glue, and construction paper. Start by cutting out various shapes from the cardboard, like circles, squares, and triangles. Let your child color or paint these shapes.

Once dry, they can use the shapes to create pictures or scenes on construction paper, such as a truck or house. Glue the shapes onto the paper and talk about the different shapes and how they fit together. This activity boosts creativity, shape recognition, and fine motor skills while being eco-friendly.

Drive on Shaped Roads

For this activity, you’ll need printed sheets with various shaped roads (circles, squares, triangles) and small toy cars. Lay the sheets out on a flat surface and explain that each road is a different shape.

Encourage your child to drive their toy cars along the shape outlines. This helps with shape recognition, hand-eye coordination, and fine motor skills. For extra learning, have them describe the shape, count its sides, or time their drive. This game makes learning shapes fun and interactive.

Paper Plate Shapes

For this fun activity, give your child a paper plate, markers or paints, and brushes. Have them draw and color different shapes like squares, triangles, circles, and hearts on each plate using bright colors.

As they create, discuss the features of each shape, like the number of sides and corners. This activity helps with shape recognition, fine motor skills, and color identification. Display their finished plates to celebrate their artistic and learning progress!

Magnifying Glass Shapes

Create shape magnifying glasses using colorful cardstock, clear plastic sheets, craft sticks, glue, and scissors. Cut out different shapes from the cardstock with a hollow center for the “glass,” then glue clear plastic sheets onto these shapes. Attach a craft stick to each shape as the handle.

Encourage your child to use their magnifying glasses to explore objects like leaves, fabrics, or toys. This activity helps with shape recognition, fine motor skills, and observational skills, combining craft with learning for endless fun.

Build 3d Shapes with Straw

For this activity, you’ll need colorful paper straws, pipe cleaners, and scissors. Cut the straws into equal lengths and use pipe cleaners to connect them into shapes like cubes or pyramids.

Encourage your child to create different 3D shapes and structures. This activity boosts creativity, spatial awareness, and fine motor skills while making geometry fun and hands-on.

Make Shape Monsters

Gather colorful construction paper, child-safe scissors, markers, googly eyes, glue, and other decorations like yarn or buttons. Cut out various shapes from the paper circles, triangles, squares, and stars. Let your child use these shapes to create their own monsters, decorating them with faces, arms, legs, and googly eyes.

After making their shape monsters, your child can create stories or play games with them. This activity enhances creativity, shape recognition, and fine motor skills while making learning fun.

Shapes Searching

For this fun activity, cut out different shapes from colorful construction paper using a shape chart as a guide. Place these shapes in a tray filled with sand or salt.

Have your child dig through the sand to find the hidden shapes and match them with those on the chart. This game helps improve shape recognition, fine motor skills, and sensory exploration while making learning enjoyable.

Shapes Cutting Activity

To help your child with fine motor skills and shape recognition, gather colorful construction paper, a marker, and child-safe scissors. Draw various shapes on the paper, like circles and squares, using bold, dashed lines for cutting guidelines.

Encourage your child to cut along the dashed lines to follow the shape outlines. This activity helps practice scissor skills, hand-eye coordination, and shape recognition, making learning fun and interactive.

Shape Block Towers

For this activity, you’ll need a set of wooden or foam blocks in various shapes and sizes, and a flat surface. Show your child how to build towers with the blocks, starting with a wide base and stacking upwards.

They can play alone or with others to create the tallest and most stable towers. This activity helps improve spatial awareness, hand-eye coordination, and problem-solving skills while encouraging creativity and teamwork.

Hopscotch with Shapes Activity

Draw a hopscotch grid on the ground with sidewalk chalk and add different shapes to each square, like circles, triangles, and squares. Use shape cutouts or stencils if you have them.

Teach your child the rules of hopscotch and have them identify the shapes they land on. For extra fun, they can call out the shape’s name or jump in a specific way based on the shape. This game combines physical activity with shape recognition, promoting fitness, balance, and learning in an enjoyable way.

Shapes Chalk Art

Give your child sidewalk chalk and a large area like a driveway. Encourage them to draw shapes, starting with simple ones like circles and squares, and then more complex shapes like stars and hearts.

Discuss each shape as they draw count the sides, name the colors, and create patterns. This activity enhances creativity, shape recognition, and fine motor skills while enjoying the outdoors. Clean-up is easy with a hose or rain.

Shape Snacks

Make snack time fun and educational with Shape Snacks! Use ingredients like bananas, blueberries, apple slices, and cheese. Start by cutting these into shapes such as circles, triangles, and rectangles.

Top a base like oatmeal or yogurt with the shaped fruits and cheese to create fun designs like animals or faces. Encourage your child to be creative and make their own designs. This activity helps with shape recognition, fine motor skills, and introduces healthy eating habits.

Conclusion

Shapes activities for preschoolers should be interactive and visually stimulating to captivate young learners. Simple tasks like matching shapes to objects or creating pictures with shapes can help develop recognition and spatial awareness. Incorporating playful elements and hands-on materials keeps the experience engaging and educational.