Young children absorb information quickly – there’s a reason people say kids are sponges – so it’s ideal to start teaching them various colors and shapes when they’re still toddlers. Tap into engaging, educational activities that involve coloring, painting and cutting to help your toddler-age child recognize colors and shapes.
Toddler Activities for Learning Shapes
Ask toddlers to find shapes either around your home or around the classroom. Instruct them to point out similar square shapes, such as boxes and windows. Move on to others shapes using the same method.
Ask the children to make different shapes out of clay. Clay sets sometimes come with cutouts for making shapes. You may also instruct toddlers to cut out different shapes from construction paper. You may want to cut out template shapes first to get them started so the children can follow your lead.
You may either make flashcards or purchase ones that have pictures of shapes on them. Tell the children what the shape is and when you show the card to them again, see if they’re able to tell you what it is.
Shapes Worksheets
Use worksheets to help toddlers learn shapes. There are different worksheets that each introduce a different shape one at a time to help your child learn. You may either purchase these worksheets online or at a retailer that specializes in educational supplies – these websites may even offer worksheets for free that you may print out directly from the site. The worksheets may have traceable shapes on them to help toddlers learn to draw them or shapes that they may cut out. Worksheets may also feature pictures of items that are certain shapes the toddlers are learning. For example, a baseball is round — in other words, a circle.
Instead of purchasing worksheets, ask toddlers to draw shapes on paper and cut them out to learn different shapes.
Activities for Learning Colors
One way to teach colors is to instruct toddlers to color rice with food coloring and ask them which color it is to reinforce the colors they know. You may even ask them to glue the rice to paper to make a picture or collage.
During snack time, offer colored fruit-ring cereal to the toddlers and ask them to separate the rings by colors. Sponge-painting is another way children can learn colors. Cut the sponges into different shapes to combine colors and shapes. Each sponge should have a different color on it. Try to teach one color at a time before you move on to the next one. Ask your child to paint with the sponges on paper. Learning
Colors Worksheets and Coloring Books
Use worksheets or coloring books that teach children colors. Worksheets may have pictures of items on one page that are all the same color. For example, there may be a picture of a tree, grass and broccoli on one page. The worksheet may ask the children to color the different items the correct color. Worksheets may be available online at preschool educational websites, or you may purchase them at retailers carrying preschool supplies. Coloring books may also prove helpful – children learn to emulate the colors they see in real life on the pages of the coloring book.