Mr D is pretty good on his shapes – he can point out circles, triangles and (sometimes!) squares and we are beginning to start to recognise shapes in pictures that he sees (wheels on vehicles for example). I love exploring different things with him on this and have planned a few little shape learning activities for both him and Miss E.
This evening, I have printed this great little activity book from a blog called Pastels & Macaroons and hope to get it laminated etc this evening for them to have a look at over the weekend. I also like exploring books with them that have a primary focus of shapes and the two books pictures below, Achoo! by Virginie Morgand and Round and Round and Square by Fredun Shapur are excellent.
Achoo is lovely and the vine here shows the explosion of colours in this book. Mr D laughs along to this book as each animal finds itself mixed up after it sneezes and it’s great for talking about the shapes that the animals and their surroundings are made up from.
When he is a little older we are going to have a go at making some of the animals in this book – I love the bear (who looks a little like a Lion when the peacock sneezes his feathers away) and there is so much we can do with this.
Round and Round and Square, (unsurprisingly!) has a focus on circles and squares which become buildings, people, vehicles and kites. Again there is much depth to this book in terms of discussion with children and making your own items from these two simple shapes. I also like how it talks about halving and how the square can change shape. Mr D was intrigued by this book and liked seeing how the shapes changed into other objects. I love the books use of bold primary colours and its simplicity is its absolute strength.
Following on from this we made some boats using simple shapes (I had been doing some work with the children on beaches following our trip to Formby Beach) and this was a lovely activity to do with them. I provided them with a selection of shapes and using a picture of a boat as a guide we stuck them on. Miss E was far more interested in trying to eat the PVA glue but Mr D understood the task and set to work sticking his shapes on to complete his boat.
We then moved onto making an ice cream. For this I cut a triangle shape for the cone and a lot of circle shaped shiny stickers. The idea being that the circles become the ice cream. Mr D really enjoyed doing this. (Miss E was napping by this stage) and I think this will be a task we will repeat again in a week or so.
We have looked at these books a few times since and they have been great for helping to prompt their shape knowledge (and to start to help Miss E recognise colour). They are also beautifully produced and very stylish in their presentation with lovely matt white covers. I just need to think of some more activities for them… I’m thinking maybe a car and a train and possibly a house.
I was sent copies of these books in exchange for a fair and honest review. All words and opinions are my own.
Catherine @ Story Snug says
I love the bold illustrations in these books. Your icecream craft is a lovely idea 🙂
#readwithme
Nat Jones says
Love the illustrations! Something like this would be perfect for my little one 🙂 #readwithme
Rebecca @ AAUBlog says
The book looks brilliant! Really like the craft ideas too #toddlerapprovedtuesday
natalie says
These look great, will have to try this with my little girl #toddlerapprovedtuesday
domesstique says
The book looks great and love your crafts too. xx #toddlerapprovedtuesday
Life Unexpected (@lifeunexpected2) says
This looks really good. We’ve been trying to teach Evie shapes recently, but have only just started to incorporate them into our craft time. These books look fantastic. I want to get them to inspire us! x #toddlerapprovedtuesday
becky says
I love an activity that can carry on from a story! Great way to encourage and inspire little minds.
Thanks for joining in with #ToddlerApprovedTuesday
Sarah Doyle says
thanks, I really love things like this too x