My youngest daughter will be three in one month. She loves shapes so we are always playing games with them. My kindergartener is also working on mastering the names of all different kinds of shapes so I wanted to share different ways we have played with shapes to learn them.

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1. The first one may seem obvious, but do a puzzle!

We have a couple shape puzzles at our house, but our favorite is a Melissa and Doug wooden puzzle. These are so great to have for multiple age levels. I also love to use the pieces for a variety of games, which you’ll see as you keep reading.

2. Scavenger Hunt

Use your wooden puzzle to do this next one. Hide the pieces around your house or around the room. (Try not to forget where you hide them!) As your child finds the pieces, place them in the puzzle. Call out the name of the shape. Play this same way OUTSIDE on a beautiful day. The fresh air will really add some goodness to your day.

3. Sidewalk Chalk

Draw large shapes on your sidewalk with chalk. Depending on your child’s age, he/she can draw them or you can draw them. Call out a shape and have your child jump inside that shape. Keep playing until you’ve called all of the shapes.

4. Spray Bottle

A spray bottle with water in it can be hours of fun! Pick them up at the dollar store for an inexpensive activity! Kids love it, and it’s a great way to play with shapes. Use your sidewalk chalk to draw shapes outside on the concrete. Call out shapes and have your child spray them with the bottle. Want to add a challenge? Add some color to it – Can you spray the BLUE circle?

5. Surprise Shapes in a Bag

Use your puzzle pieces again and place all of them into a bag you can’t see through. Your child will place a hand in the bag without looking, choose a shape, and name it. I actually played this with my five year old and had her skip to the next room each time and draw the shapes onto a piece of paper. It added tons of movement PLUS she got the drawing practice. If your child isn’t drawing yet, just name them. For an added touch of fun, see if your child can feel the shape and name it before they see it!

6. Peek-A-Boo Shapes

This next one came upon us by accident. We originally used magnet tiles to create a tower with a door at the top. My toddler opened the door and peeked through the tower while I held a shape (from the puzzle again) at her eye level. You can get a better idea from the image above. She told me what the shape was. This sounds so simple, but we giggled so much and had a ball!

I eventually tried to come up with something anyone could use. Take a cereal box and cut a square out of the narrow side of the box. On the opposite side, cut a small hole to peek through. As your child looks through that hole, hold up a shape right outside of the square you cut. It’s really just a fun, silly way to look at shapes and name them.

7. Play Doh

Using Play Doh is especially great if you have shape cutters. We bought a set a long time ago that works awesome, but we also own a giant cookie cutter set that I use ALL. THE. TIME. and it has shapes in there as well. Simply roll out the dough, and cut shapes! I couldn’t find the exact cutters that we have, but here’s a link to a set with a few basic shapes.

8. Play Doh Pizza

We have also made play doh pizza with shapes. Your child is the chef and rolls out the play dough. Place your order with whatever kind of “shape toppings” you want. This can be so fun! All the toppings are cut out of the play dough. Set up a little restaurant and collect orders. Siblings can play too! Challenge your child by ordering half of one topping and half of another. Have fun with it!

9. Play Doh and Dice

Assign 6 different shapes to a number on the die. You could simply write this on a piece of scratch paper or maybe even a mini whiteboard/chalkboard if you have it. This is great for your 4-6 year old who may be practicing to recognize numbers on a die. Roll the die and call out the number. Cut out the correct play doh shape according to the assignments you set when you started.

Find a way to get a “winner”. You can do this by rolling a certain number of times (like 10) and seeing which shape was made the most. Or, you play until one of your shapes gets to 5. Keep it simple, keep it fun, keep it just right for your kiddo.

10. Shaving Cream

Don’t be scared of this one. It’s such a blast! And your kitchen will smell awesome when you’re finished. Spray a little bit of shaving cream on your counter or table. Give your child some time to spread it around and play with it for a little bit. Then, draw shapes with your finger! This can be free choice from your child or you can call out a shape for your child to draw.

There are so many ways to play with shapes while learning. I love these ideas because they all use items around the house. This makes it so easy to throw together last minute and have a good time learning with your little ones.