Category: Kindergarten

Shapes recognition activity

Feed the Shape Monster game

 

Learning shapes helps the children identify and organize visual information, it also helps them learn skills in other curriculum areas including reading, Mathematics and science. For example, an early step in understanding numbers and letters is to recognize their shape.

In this activity we will help the children recognize and name the basic 2D shapes, while enjoying themselves and having fun.

 

For this activity you will need:

• 4 big pieces of cardboard to make 4 Shape Monsters
• Small shape cards
• Paint
• Googly eyes (or you can draw the eyes on the Shape Monster using a marker)
• Glue
• A pair of scissors
• A marker

Preparing the Shape Monsters

1. Paint each piece of cardboard in any colour you like. Use a different colour for each piece of cardboard to make 4 Shapes Monsters.
2. Once the paint is dry cut each piece of cardboard in the following shapes: a circle, a square, a rectangle, and a triangle.
3. Now cut a hole in each shape to represent the monster’s mouth. The shape of the mouth should correspond to the respective Shape Monster. For example, the circle Shape Monster should have a mouth cut in the shape of a circle.
4. Once the mouth is cut, glue the googly eyes on each monster to make a proper shape monster with an open mouth.
5. If you are not using googly eyes draw they eyes with a marker.

 

Preparing the small shape cut outs

 

Take the remaining pieces of cardboard and cut out small circles, triangles, rectangles, and squares from them.

 

Let’s feed the hungry Shape Monster

 

• Mix up all the small shapes and put them in a tray.
• Ask your child to take a small shape from the tray, say its name, and feed it to the corresponding Monster.

 

Enjoy

Ms. Anna

K1.2

Colour Mixing

Critical thinking and problem-solving skills are the ability to understand cause and effect, figure out how things work, and solve problems. These skills are essential for academic success and for everyday life. They help us make good decisions, understand the consequences of our actions, and solve problems.

One way to enhance these skills is by having children experiment with colour mixing.

What do children learn from colour mixing activities?

1. While observing the colours being blended together, making predications, comparing, and exploring cause and effect, the children will be enhancing their critical thinking skills.

Examples of questions you can ask to make children think are:

• ‘what will happen if we mix red, blue and yellow together?’
• ‘Can we make the exact same colour twice?’
• ‘How much yellow do we need to add to the blue to make green, a little or a lot?’

 

2. While experimenting to try to achieve a particular colour, children are using their problem-solving skills. Children use problem solving skills to come up with ideas for what they can do when the colour they are mixing does not turn out the way they hoped it to.

 

3. Familiarise themselves with mathematical concepts such as more and less.

 

4. Enhance their fine motor skills through, pouring and mixing, and work on controlling those skills. It’s not always easy to pour just a little bit of paint!

 

5. Hands on learning and experience with primary and secondary colours.

 

They will also learn that:

Mixing colours generates new colours

The Primary colours

The primary colours red, yellow, and blue are used to create all the other colours. (These three colours are unable to be created through mixing of any other colours).

By mixing the primary colours together, they create other colours such as orange, green and purple, also known as the secondary colours.

Red +yellow= orange      Blue +red= purple         Blue+ yellow= green

 

You can experiment further by mixing various colours such as, black and orange to make brown, red, and white to make pink and black and white to make grey.

Let the children experiment, explore, mix, and learn.

Once they are done mixing…let them PAINT!

Here you can find a well explained colour mixing video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybt2jhCQ3lA

Ms Graziella

K1.1

Counting Number of Objects

 

This simple activity helps children reinforce their number recognition skills and consolidate their counting skills.

 

During this activity, your child will learn that a given number of objects corresponds to a number.

FOR THIS ACTIVITY YOU WILL NEED:

• Number cards (you can do your own as indicated in the pictures)
• Small cards made from pieces of paper with a very good sign on them, to mark the chosen group (as indicated in the second picture)
• Instead of the small cards you can use string to circle the group of objects chosen (as indicated in the first picture)
• 6 groups of objects of different amounts (you can use various objects you find around the house such as: fruit, food, cutlery, cups, hair clips, books etc.)
• A marker

HOW TO PLAY:

 

1. Choose the number you are going to focus on, for example 5, and write it on the piece of paper with a marker to make a number card. (The number you choose depends on your child’s ability).
2. Place the number in the middle of the table or on the floor.
3. Make 6 different groups of different objects and place them around the number card. (As indicated in the picture)
4. Make sure that at least 3 of these groups must have a number of objects that matches the number on the card.
5. Give your child either the piece of string, tied into a circle, or the small cards with the very good sign on them.
6. Ask your child to say the number on the card.
7. Encourage your child to count all the objects in each group, in order to find the group with the corresponding number of objects.
8. Once they find the groups with the corresponding number of objects, they can either circle them with the string, or put the piece of paper with the very good sign, next to them. (As indicated in the pictures)

 

Repeat as much as needed, changing numbers, objects, and number of objects.

 

Ms. Jessica

K2.5