Shape Search
Directions:
Houses, trees, rivers, bridges, cars, trucks. When your children describe what they see from the window, are these the things on the list? Why not get them to look at their surroundings a little differently—say, in terms of circles, squares, and maybe even a trapezoid or two?
To begin this geometry exercise, make a list of basic shapes and forms. You can include circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, ovals, columns, spheres, pyramids, and cubes. Then, have your children look out the car window and try to find one example of every shape on the list. If your children are older, consider eliminating the obvious answers, like wheels.
As your kids get better at seeing geometrically, have them be on the lookout for new shapes to add to their list. They may even want to keep a tally of each type they spot. You can also encourage them to look for shapes within shapes by dissecting what they see: a double window, for example, that is a rectangle made up of two squares.
Well, this is shaping up to be a lot of fun!
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© 2005 by Steve and Ruth Bennett. Excerpted from 365 Unplugged Family Fun Activities with permission of its publisher, Perseus Books Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
To order this book visit perseusbooksgroup.com.
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