Shapes Find Their Friends

Each child holds a cardboard shape and dances around; when the music stops, they team up with friends who have the same shape. They practice sorting by shape and connecting with others.

How to play

1. Sitting down, each child gets a big cardboard circle, square or triangle and we look at them: "How many corners does it have?" (2 min).
2. We dance with our shape; when the music stops, we find the friends with the same one and make a circle (3 min).
3. Each group makes its shape with their bodies: circles join hands in a ring, squares stand at four corners, triangles at three (3 min).
4. While dancing, we trade shapes with a friend and then look for the friends of our new shape (3 min).
5. We put the shapes away: circles in the circle box, squares in the square box, triangles in the triangle box (1 min).

Rules

• Dance with your shape, don't throw it.
• Find your shape friends by looking at their cards.
• Every group counts, big or small.

Variations

Adaptations

• Child with limited mobility: stays in one spot holding up their shape and friends come to them.
• Child with low vision: shapes with raised edges (glued string) so they can be recognized by touch.
• Child who finds it hard to join in: the teacher partners with them in the first round.

Learning goals

• Recognize and sort basic shapes.
• Move to the music.
• Form groups with different classmates.

Equipment for a class of 25

• formas de cartón: 25
• música

Teacher tip

Make the shapes about 10 inches across and all one color at first: if they're different colors, kids group by color. Label the boxes with a drawing of each shape.

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