Math Shapes are Everywhere

Teaching children geometric shapes is easy when they learn to look at what they are seeing. Because geometric shapes are everywhere you look. Shapes are in your home, outside your home, and even people have geometric shapes. When children learn about basic shapes in math, they learn about:

• Squares
• Rectangles
• Triangles
• Trapezoids
• Circles
• Lines
• Ovals
• Two and three dimensional geometric shapes

The following are examples of things you can do with your children to help them develop a better understanding of shapes.

Geometric Shapes

However the best way for children to learn and understand about shapes is to make it personal. This can be done by having them find as many of these shapes where they live, in and around their home.

This allows children to internalize the information, so when they see objects which are similar; they will be able to recognize the shapes within the object. For example, here are some sample questions you can ask your children what shapes they see around your home:

• Do they see a pattern in the windows?
• How about a pattern in the bricks or other materials on the outside of your home?
• How about the home itself from the outside?
• Do they see any shapes in the walls, ceilings, doors, furniture?
• How about the TV, computer, radio, stove, beds, lights, etc?
• How about the trees and bushes?
• What other shapes do they see?

If the children see patterns then let them describe what they see. They should see two and three dimensional objects, such as cones, pyramids, spheres, and more.

Dimensional Shapes

Here are some additional shapes they may see when visiting a ball park:

• Do they see a diamond shape?
• Do they see semi-circles?
• How about circles?
• Any other shapes in the field and stands?

Different Shapes

As children look they will notice common shapes everywhere in the ball park. Now let’s look at different places, when riding in a car ask your children:

• What can of shapes do they see?
• What is the shape of a billboard?
• What is the shape of the bridge you just went under or over?
• How about the shape of buildings you pass, can they describe their shape?
• What about the shape of other cars and trucks you see?
• How objects that have multiple shapes do they see all the shapes?
• Do you see any othe shapes?

As they look, children will see ovals, cylinders, cones, triangles, circles, rectangles, squares, trapezoids, straight lines, and many other shapes in all the objects you pass on the road.

Bicycle Shapes

Let’s look at a bicycle, ask your children what shapes they see when looking at the:

• Wheels
• Pedals
• Handle bars
• Lights
• Reflectors
• Spokes
• Seat
• Tires
• Any other part of the bike

They should be able to see circles, cylinders, rectangles, ovals, and many others.

Have your children look up into the sky and describe the clouds in the sky. Do they see any shapes? Many people see dogs, cats, boats, and more. As your children look at the clouds in the sky and ask them to describe the shapes they see using geometric terms – such as, ovals, circles, etc.

Geometric shapes are everywhere and in every object. All children need is to look and see the shapes all around them. As they learn their shapes, they will also learn to recognize patterns in the shapes. This ability to recognize patterns in shapes is important for learning additional math concepts such as, problem solving and algebra. Visit An Interactive K-12 Math Website for online basic shapes simulations.

Bridge

Kitchen

Truck

Clouds

Windows

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