9.

Shape

Solid Shapes
Children are concerned from babyhood with feeling, observing and arranging solid shapes.
They are interested in properties of solid shapes long before they are ready to consider plane
shapes. Free play and building with solids, and junk modelling, involve children in stacking and
packing shapes, seeing how they fit or do not fit together how the same box can represent
either the body of a lorry or a tower how the same cylinder can represent either a wheel or a
ship's funnel, and so on

These activities and other more structured matching activities can be used to introduce the
concepts and words for 'round', ‘flat', 'face', edge', straight', 'curved', 'corner'. Objects that roll
have a round part. Objects that stand firmly have a flat part, and that flat part is called a face.
(We could draw a human face on it.) A face is surrounded by edges that can be seen and felt.
They may be straight or curved. Edges meet each other at corners. Everyday objects, such as
boxes, tins, packets, balls, toilet-roll holders, are just as useful as commercially produced solid
shapes for introducing these concepts.

The language introduced above can be reinforced by a matching game of the following nature.
For the game, you need two identical sets of solid shapes, one set on display, the other in a box
hidden from view. The teacher picks one shape from the box and gives it to a child to feel
behind his back, so that no one can see the shape. The child must describe what he can feel - a
round part, perhaps, or only flat parts, some edges, some corners. Other children must try to
guess from the description which shape is 'just like' or 'congruent to' the shape this child is
feeling. Lastly, the child who was feeling the shape tries to identify a shape from the display that
is congruent to it.

Solid shapes
Playing with bricks can increase a child's awareness about which solid shapes will build into a
tower and which just fall off. A wide range of constructional activities using commercially-
available kits, together with modelling junk materials, will help provide the essential first-hand
experience of solid shapes. After considerable free play with solid shapes in a variety of
materials, you could gradually introduce the correct names for each shape — cube, cuboid,
cone, cylinder, pyramid, triangular prism, hexagonal prism, sphere. Make opportunities to
discuss their particular properties and compare similarities and differences.
The following games can be used to reinforce and extend the children's ideas about solid
shapes. It is essential for them to have practical experience as outlined above before playing
these games.

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Hiding bricks

Objective: To improve tactile recognition of solid shapes.

Group size: A small group or whole class.

What you need

A variety of bricks which reflect the solid shapes being taught,
a small basket, a large space.

What to do
Ask the children to form a circle, standing with their hands
behind their backs.
Place at least six bricks in the basket, initially choosing only
two different shapes. As the children become familiar with
the game, include a wider range of solid shapes.
Choose one child to hold the basket and ask him to walk
round the outside of the circle placing a brick in each child's
hand. Ask the rest of the class to chant (or sing):
(Child's name, sung twice) where are the bricks?
Why are you playing such a naughty trick?
until all the bricks have been placed in the children's hands.
You should then chant (or sing), "Who's got the cuboids?' (or
any other solid shape).
The child (or children) holding the named solid shape must
hold it up in the air and chant (or sing), 'I've got the cuboid'.
At the end of the game, ask the children to return the bricks
to the basket. Repeat the game with a different child giving
out the bricks. Alternatively, you could change the bricks in
the basket.

Discussion
Encourage the children to guess their shape by feeling and not looking. Are some shapes
easier to identify than others? Can the children explain how they can identify their shape? Help
them by including vocabulary such as curved, straight, faces and points in the discussions.

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Solid shape tiddlywinks

Objective
To improve the ability to match a two-dimensional representation with a solid shape.

Group size Two to four.

What you need

For the preparation: card, felt-tipped pens, plastic film.
For the game: large counters (a different colour for each player), a base board, a selection of
solid shape bricks.

Preparation
Divide a large piece of card into equal-sized bands. Make sure the bands are large enough to
flick counters on fairly easily. Colour the outside bands red and each of the other bands a
different colour. Draw (or rubber stamp) a different solid shape in each of the coloured bands
that are not red. Cover with plastic film.

What to do
Ask the players to sit opposite each other with the base board in the middle and give each
child a selection of the same coloured counters.
Let the players take turns to use the counters like tiddlywinks, starting on the outside red band
and flicking them onto the coloured bands. If a counter lands completely within a band, the
player has to find a solid shape brick which matches the picture for that band. No brick is
collected if the counter lands across two bands.
Finish the game in a variety of ways:
(a) When one player has collected a specified number of solid shapes. Vary the number to suit
the concentration span of the pupils.
(b) When one player has collected a specified number of different solid shapes. Again, take the
children's ability into account.
(c) When one player has collected three shapes which are all the same.

Discussion
Is it easier to land a counter on some bands more than others? Does the children's skill improve
with practice? Encourage the pupils to name and count the faces on their solid shapes. How
many solid shapes have circles on their faces? Can the children find other examples of their
solid shapes in the classroom?

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Slippery slide

Objective:To explore solid shapes

which will roll and/or slide

Group size: pairs

What you need:

For the preparation: card, felt-tipped
pens, plastic film
For the game: a smooth piece of
wood, a cardboard box, a variety of
different shaped bricks, a set of
cards depicting those solid shapes,
a large picture of Mr Roly Poly and
one of Mr Slide.

Preparation
Use the card and felt-tipped pens to
make a set of small cards depicting
the solid shapes that will be encountered during the game. Make two large pictures, one of Mr
Roly Poly and one of Mr Slide, as shown here. Each picture should be large enough to place on
it five bricks. Cover the pictures with plastic film.

What to do
Before the game starts, make sure the children understand the difference between sliding and
rolling.
Set up the slide on the carpet area by balancing the piece of wood against the cardboard box.
Place the small cards face down next to the slide with the selection of bricks nearby. Turn the
pictures of Mr Roly Poly and Mr Slide face down and let the players each choose one.
Invite the players to take turns to choose a small card and find a solid shape which
corresponds to the picture. Encourage them to predict whether the brick will roll or slide before
trying it out. Once they have predicted, invite them to test the brick on the slide. The player can
keep the brick if it belongs to his picture, for instance, if the player has the Mr Roly Poly
picture, she can only keep the bricks which roll. All other bricks have to be returned to the
original pile.
Let the game continue until a player has found five bricks which belong to her picture.

Discussion
Encourage the players to think about which face of
the solid shape they will place on the slide. For
example, a cylinder will roll when placed in one
position but slide if placed in another. Can the
children recognise that some shapes can belong to
both pictures? How many shapes can belong on
both pictures? What are the similarities of shapes
which will only slide?

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Boxes

Objective: To understand and use patterns and properties

of shape

Group size: Whole class, small groups

What you need: collection of boxes of different shapes, consumable boxes for printing
thickly mixed paint, large sheets of paper ( newspaper would do)

Language
Shape names and properties, e.g. edges, vertices, faces, square, rectangle, triangle, circle,
cube, cuboid, prism, pyramid.

What to do:
You will need a collection of interestingly shaped boxes.
Ask each child to choose one box and say something abut it.
Ask questions about the shape of the faces. Note the children’s use of appropriate vocabulary
and their understanding of words such as cube, cuboid, faces, edges and vertices.
Play Kim’s Game. Hide the boxes under a cloth and ask one child to remove a box. When the
remaining boxes are revealed, the other children describe the missing box.
Allow each child to choose a box from a consumable collection. Ask them to talk about the
reasons for their choice and to compare their choice with other people’s. Ask them to count the
faces and to describe the shape of each face (using 2D terminology).
For the next part of this activity ask the children to paint the faces of their box. (If you can bear
the mess a different colour for each face). Make an instant and interactive display by mounting
the printed papers with the boxes on a shelf below. Discuss the display with the group, then
invite the rest of the class to work with the display from time to time.

Setting the scene This is a teacher-intensive activity, at least until the children are familiar with
Kim's game. You will need to work with a small group. By choosing a box yourself you can
introduce the children to the language of face vertex vertices, edge and the names of 2D and

94
3D shapes. As each child makes a statement about his or her shape you can make an initial
assessment of the use of mathematical language. You can then progress to asking specific
questions like 'How many faces/edges/vertices has your shape got?' or 'What shape are the
faces?' The display of children's printing from the second part of this activity should be
interactive. Place the boxes on a table top and arrange the printed papers each with a lace
attached, behind the display. Ask questions such as -Which printing matches which box?' and
encourage any child in the class to use the laces to make the match.

Making and monitoring decisions to solve problems

In the printing activity the boxes represent mathematical equipment and provide the children
with the opportunity to use them to explore the properties of 2D shape (the faces). The printing
task also requires them to organise their work. You should ask them to check that they have
printed using every face and have not duplicated. The idea of using a different colour for each
face helps the children (and you) to check.
Before children can use with understanding the names that we give to solid shapes (such as
cylinder, cone, cube) they need experience with plane shapes. By building with solids, children's
attention will be drawn to their faces, which are plane shapes. They can make paint prints of
these faces or draw round them on card and cut them out. They are ready to explore some
properties of plane shapes.

Plane Shapes
The plane shapes that we shall introduce are circles, squares, rectangles and triangles. For the
activities that follow, a selection of plane shapes is needed. A possible set is illustrated on the
next page the number suggested of each shape is indicated in brackets by the illustration (for
example, one large circle, two medium-sized circles, two small circles and so on). It is desirable
that some of the plane shapes are congruent to some faces of the solids that have already been
used. The plane shapes can be cut from card and covered with adhesive film for protection.

95
Figure 1

96
A person who only sees squares orientated as those shown in Figure 1 will not readily call the
figure below a square; he is likely to call it a diamond. Children need to handle and reorientate
plane shapes just as much as solid shapes. Building pictures with the plane shapes will help
children to discover some of their properties.

The shapes can be named and used for a matching game. Remove all the large shapes (those
in the left-hand column of the groups in Figure1). From the remaining shapes, let one child
choose a shape and name it; let another child find a shape that is congruent to it,
superimposing the two shapes to check whether they are congruent. The game continues until
the collection is exhausted.
Restore the large shapes to the collection and try a more demanding matching game. Choose
one of the large shapes. Children must try to build a shape that is congruent to it. We give two
examples. Children will soon learn that it is impossible to build with the circles.

You will notice that each row of Figure 1 contains figures of different sizes but the same shape.
Children have a good concept of 'same shape as'. (The child who calls a model car a Ford
escort has perceived that the model has the same shape as the full-sized car.) We can provide
children with language to express this concept by playing a matching game with the plane
shapes. We pick one of the large shapes and say, 'I want a little shape that has the same shape
as this one. We pick a few that do not have the same shape as the chosen one before lighting
on one that has the same shape. The children are then invited to find some more shapes that
have the same shape as the chosen one. (To check for 'same shape as', you can close one eye
and move the smaller shape until it 'blots out' the larger, further one.)
A set of shapes that match for 'same shape as' can be ordered for ‘bigger than'. The ordered
row will resemble a row of Figure 1.

Rectangles and length concepts.

The collection of rectangles in Figure 1 includes some squares. A square is a special type of
rectangle, and we might indicate this fact by sometimes calling it a square rectangle as well as a
square. The rectangles in Figure 1 have been lettered for easy reference. The concept 'as long
as' can be reintroduced in connection with the rectangles. By the length of a rectangle, we mean
the length of the longer of its sides, if they are unequal. Thus, in Figure 1, rectangle D is longer
than E, but as long as G or A. By the width of a rectangle, we mean the length of the shorter of
its sides, if they are unequal. Rectangles that have been matched for length (such as D, G and
A) can then be ordered to introduce the concept 'wider than'.

Rectangles of the same length ordered for wider than

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The concept 'as wide as' can be introduced in terms of the rectangles. Rectangle E is wider than
F, but as wide as C or G. The rectangles E, C and G, having been matched for 'as wide as', can
then be ordered for 'longer than'.

Rectangles (of the same width) ordered for 'longer than'

These activities are a valuable preparation for measuring the length and width of objects.

Linking solid and plane shapes. If some of the plane shapes in the collection are congruent to
various faces of the solids that were used previously, they can be placed on the appropriate
faces to show this, focusing attention back to the solids and to the shape of their faces, which
can be named as circles, rectangles, squares or triangles. A further game can be played with
the solids. The teacher describes a shape, and children try to identify it by such clues as, 'It has
a round part, a corner, and one face that is a circle.' This description fits any cone in the set of
shapes. Now the children will be able to use the term cone with understanding. Through the
matching game, all the solids can be identified and named. Those with only a round part are
spheres. Those whose faces are all squares are cubes. Those whose faces are all rectangles
are cuboids. Those with two congruent circular faces and a round part are cylinders. Those with
two congruent triangular faces and three rectangular faces are triangular prisms.
The activities that we have described for this introduction to shape concepts will naturally span
a long period of time. Not more than two or three of them will be organized on any one day, and
they all need continual repetition.

It is important to foster children's awareness of shape, both two and three dimensional, and help
them develop precise vocabulary so they can express their knowledge and understanding about
shape. However, it is equally as important not to confuse plane and solid shapes. While you can
discuss plane shapes in relation to the faces of solid shapes, do not, for example, call a cube-
shaped brick a square. Any object which can be picked up is a solid shape while a plane shape
is an abstract idea or the name of a face of a solid.
Games can provide another vehicle for exploring shapes and the following suggestions have
been categorised into two groups — those associated with two dimensional shapes (plane) and
those dealing with three-dimensional shapes

Plane shapes

Young children are surrounded by shapes in

their everyday lives and many will have
explored them at home through toys such as
puzzles, bricks and mosaics. These
experiences can be continued and extended at
school through art activities such as printing,
painting, taking rubbings and via more direct
shape-matching activities such as sorting,
partitioning and ordering. Provide young
children with a variety of concrete apparatus to
explore the tactile as well as the visual aspects
of shapes.

The games will build upon the children's

existing knowledge and help introduce accurate
mathematical language such as the names of common shapes together with the vocabulary
used to describe them such as edge, curved, straight and corners.

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The Shape House

Objectives: To introduce the names of the common plane shapes and relate these to pictures
of familiar objects.

Group size: Small group or whole class.

What you need:

For the preparation: a small wooden brick, sticky labels, card, a pencil, felt-tipped pens, plastic
film, a Stanley knife, masking tape.
For the game: a shape house, a shape die.

Preparation
Draw a large outline of a house on card. Draw doors
and windows from shapes which are to be introduced.
Include large and small ones of each shape, if
appropriate. Colour and cover in plastic film. Use a
Stanley knife to cut round each shape, leaving one
edge to act as a hinge. Cut a piece of card large
enough to cover the back of each window and draw on
a picture of something which corresponds to each
shape. Cover with film and stick each picture behind
the relevant door or window.
Using a wooden brick and sticky labels, make a die
with a different plane shape (as on the house) on four
faces and leave two faces blank.

What to do
Staple the shape house to a display board and group
the children around it so that they can all see easily.
 Taking turns, invite each child to throw the die and
name the shape which appears uppermost. Ask
them to decide whether they want to choose the
large or small version of that shape to open on the
shape house. The child should then indicate where
that shape appears on the picture. If the child throws a blank face, the die passes to another
player.
 Once the picture has been revealed, the child must close the door or window and pass the
die to another player.
 Continue the game until, either all the windows and doors have been opened, or for as long
as you think appropriate.

Discussion As each shape window or door is opened, discuss the properties of each shape. Is
it large or small? How many edges has it? Are they curved or straight? Can the children find
something in the room which is the same shape? Look carefully at the picture behind the door
or window. Can the children suggest an alternative picture which could have been used to
illustrate that shape?

Shape fish

Objective: To reinforce matching shape to shape.

Group size: Two to four.

What you need: For the preparation: white card, felt-tipped pens, scissors, ruler, a used
matchstick. For the game: a spinner with a choice of plane shapes, photocopiable page 90,
coloured pencils.

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Preparation To make the spinner, cut an hexagonal shape from the card. Divide it into six
equal sections. Within each section draw a different plane
shape in a different colour. These shapes should match those
on the worksheet you have drawn. Push the matchstick through
the centre of the hexagon to form the pivot point.

What to do
 Give each child a a worksheet (a drawing with shapes on it)
and make sure they are familiar with each of the shapes
shown.
 Taking turns, ask each child to spin the spinner.
 He should then colour in on his worksheet a shape indicated by the spinner. If the spinner
stops at a shape all of which have been coloured, the child must pass the spinner on to the
next player without colouring in anything.
 Continue the game until a child has coloured all the shapes on the worksheet.

Discussion
Ask the children to point to a named shape on their worksheet. Can they name a shape which
you indicate? How many of each shape can they count? Which shapes have curved or straight
edges? How many shapes have four corners?

Biscuit fun

Objective: To reinforce understanding of the attributes of plane shapes.

Group size: Two to four.

What you need:

For the preparation: card, felt-tipped pens, scissors, plastic film.
For the game: a large base board, small shape attribute cards, a plate, a die, plastic figures.
Preparation On a piece of card, draw a simple track and draw 'smiley faces' in some of the
squares. Cover with film.
Cut different small shapes from card and make them look like biscuits. Cover with film.
Cut a set of square cards and write on each the name of a shape or the attributes of a shape,
such as curved edges, four corners, six edges. Cover the cards with plastic film.

What to do
 Place the base board and plate of card biscuits in the
middle of the table. The cards containing the attributes
should be placed in a pile, face down, at the side of
the base board.
 Give each child a plastic figure for a counter and ask
them to place it anywhere on the track at the start of
the game.
 Invite the players to take turns throwing the die to
indicate how many squares they can move their figure,
in any direction.
 Each player must try to land on a square with a 'smiley
face'. When a player succeeds, let her pick a small
card from the top of the pile. This will either name a
shape or give an attribute (such as 'six edges') which
she must then find in the plate of biscuits. If she
cannot find the correct biscuit, she must miss a go.
Any incorrect biscuits must be returned to the plate. If
she does find the correct biscuit, she can keep it.

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Discussion
Before starting the game, look closely with the children at the biscuit shapes to establish that
they are familiar with the names and attributes of each shape. Also make sure they can read the
attribute cards and sort out the range of biscuits to which each one applies. For example, four
corners could apply to both oblongs and squares and it is important that the children realise this.

Almost all children find pleasure in working with shape and ideas about shape and pattern are
developed from an early age by the exploration of their environment. By helping children to
clarify their thoughts and providing accurate mathematical language, teachers will lead children
towards a better understanding of shape.
It is important that children have opportunities to explore regular and irregular 3D and 2D
shapes, developing an understanding of the properties of shapes by handling and discussing
them. A game such as "Shape family" helps children to think about the properties of certain
shapes and to learn their common names.
Moving and fitting together shapes can be experienced in two and three dimensions and
children can have great fun studying the packaging of everyday items, examining the way that
small boxes fit together within a larger box, for instance.

The Shape Family

Objective: To investigate the properties of certain

shapes and to learn their common names

What you need

2 worksheets as above
21 cards with shape attributes (triangle", "three points",
"three sides", square , "four the same length", "four
points", "rectangle", two short sides and two long sides", "pentagon", "five points , five sides",
"hexagon", "six sides", "six points", octagon , eight sides", "eight points", "oval", "circle", round ,
curved").

101
102
How to play
Give each player a worksheet, then shuffle the attribute cards and place them face down in a
pile.
Players take turns to take a card from the top of the pile and tick the corresponding shape on
their worksheet- for example, three sides" must be the triangle, and "curved" could be the circle
or the oval. The cards should then be placed face down at the bottom of the pack. If a shape
comes up that has already been ticked off, the card is again placed face down at the bottom of
the pack and play passes to the other player.
The winner is the first to find all eight shapes on their worksheet.
To finish children draw ‘family’ pictures using the shapes.

103
Shape match
Objective: To explore 2D shapes

What you need: A one-minute sand timer, 2 baseboards,

2 sets of cards to go with the baseboards.

What to do:
Start with the ‘Shape Match' board and spread out the cards near it face up. Start the sand timer
and, before the sand runs out, try to match the small shape cards to the ‘Shape Match’ board.

'Complete the Shapes' board is played in the same manner against the timer. The players can
compete by improving their own time or beating other people’s time.

Notes
When making the baseboards it is worth making them recessed by using two layers of card and
cutting the shapes into the top layer for the matching cards to slot into so that they are not
dislodged easily

104
Shape Match Board

105
Complete the Shapes Board

106
Complete the Shapes 2

107
Space: position vocabulary
It is very important for young children to extend and improve the accuracy of the positional
language which they use. They may not normally use words such as in between, above, below,
beside, next to, nearest and furthest. The ability to understand and use such terms
appropriately is essential if they are to progress with mathematical areas such as shape and
space. A wide range of positional vocabulary can be introduced through movement lessons or
incidentally as children handle play equipment. Occasionally, it is useful to highlight particular
vocabulary by playing games.
The games in this section offer an opportunity to reinforce and assess the children's ability to
use positional vocabulary accurately.

Pinning the tail on the donkey

Objective To reinforce positional vocabulary such as on, next to/beside, above, below/ under,
in between, nearest, furthest.

Group size A small group or the whole class.

What you need

A large picture of a donkey (a simple outline on card covered with transparent plastic film),
five different coloured tails (cut from card), drawing pins, a blindfold.

What to do
 Display the picture of the donkey on an easily accessible wall at child height.
 Make sure the children realise where the donkey's tail ought to be. (A large red spot on the
picture of the donkey usually helps avoid disagreement.)
 Blindfold a volunteer, spin him round and ask him to place a tail onto the donkey.
 Repeat this with other volunteers and the remaining tails until all the tails have been
attached.

Discussion After each tail has been placed on the donkey, discuss its position. Where is it in
relation to the various parts of the donkey? Also, discuss the position of each tail in relation to
the other tails. For example, the yellow one is in between the red and blue one. Finally, discuss
which tail is nearest/furthest from the red spot. With practice, the children will be able to
describe the position of the tail without too much support.

108
Tickly spiders

Objective To reinforce positional vocabulary (such as on, back,

under and top) and directional vocabulary (such as up, down,
along and round).

Group size Whole class.

What you need No specific requirements.

hat to do
 Ask the children to find a partner and stand together.
Choose a child as your partner.
 Explain that one child must stand still while the other acts
out the movements to accompany a short story.
 Ask the second child to make her hand into the shape of a
spider.
 Tell a brief story about the movements of the spider, for
example:
'A spider scuttled along the ground, jumped on to a shoe and
crawled slowly up the back of a leg. When he reached the waist,
he tiptoed round to the tummy. Then he climbed up the chest
and sat on the shoulder. He slid down the arm and landed with a
bump on the hand. Quickly, he climbed back up to the shoulder
and walked under the chin and round to the back of the neck.
He crept up to the top of the head, jumped onto the nose and
gave the child a tickle. The child shouted, 'Go away', and the
spider fell down to the ground and scuttled quickly away.
As you tell the story, demonstrate the movements on your
partner and encourage the children to follow the movements.
 The children should then swap over and repeat the game.

Discussion
Discuss and name the various body parts before or after the story.
As the children become more experienced, change the
movements or ask the children to suggest ideas or even make up
their own story.

109
Tell a journey

Objective To develop the ability to give

and receive complex positional and
directional instructions.

Group size A small group.

What you need

For the preparation: card, sketch pens,.
For the game: counters for each child, a
base board, objects made from clay to
act as landmarks, small cards with
pictures of landmarks.

Preparation
Draw a large simple route map on a
piece of card. Place the clay models on it
as landmarks. Make a set of small cards,
each with a picture of one of the
landmarks on it.

What to do
 Talk about the base board with the children to make sure they realise what each
landmark is meant to be. Show them the small cards and ask individuals to match them
to each landmark.
 Place the small cards face down in a pile beside the board. Ask the first player to take
the first two cards from the top of the pile. These cards indicate the start and finish of
the journey and may be used in any order.
 Let the first player put her counter on the pathway next to the starting landmark and ask
her to move it along any route to the finishing landmark. As she does so, she must tell
the story of the journey. Which landmarks does she pass? What does she see? Does
she stop to visit any of the landmarks on her journey and why? What is the purpose of
her journey? What does she do at the finishing landmark?
 Let each player make a journey and tell the story to the group.

Discussion
Initially, children will need to be prompted by the teacher and encouraged to use positional and
directional vocabulary. Ask them to think carefully about wording their instructions. Are these
absolutely clear or could they be confusing? How could this be avoided? With more experience
the children will be able to make their journeys more interesting and their stories more
elaborate. If necessary, keep the base board very simple to start with and gradually add more
landmarks. Invite the pupils to make their own landmarks out of clay or other locally available
material. The ‘listening' players can be encouraged to make suggestions or ask questions while
each child describes her journey.

110
ROBOTS

Objective: To understand and use properties of position and movement. To understand and
use measures.
Language
Forward, backward, right, left, turn, numbers including quarter, half, quarter turn, half turn, right
angle and rotate.
What do you need: Left and right stickers for hands and/or feet.

What to do:
Sit the children around in a circle in a big space.
Tell them that you are a robot and that you can only move if given very specific instructions.
You can only understand forward, backward, right left and numbers. Ask the children to give
you instructions to get you from the chair on which you are sitting to a target which will require
several different movements, including at lest one change of direction.

Encourage them to be precise in their instructions by ‘misunderstanding’ them of they are not
sufficiently detailed e.g. if the children say ‘Go forward’ keep walking forward further than they
expect.
The children will need to give you further instructions which are more precise, e.g. ’Go
backwards four steps.’ Similarly if the children say turn, you could turn a quarter turn in the
wrong direction and they will have to decide you correct position.
Continue until you reach your target.
Discuss with the children the decisions they had to make
Repeat the activity with one of the children being the robot and selecting a different target.
Can they successfully instruct the new robot.

What next?
Recording instructions for the robot
Children who are confident with giving and following instructions can be encouraged to find a
way to record a set of instructions for a partner to try out.

Setting more difficult targets for movement

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Targets can be made more difficult by choosing one which is not immediately visible (e.g.
beyond a doorway). Alternatively, you could choose a target which can be reached by more
than one route. Is there a shortest route? Is it possible to return by a different route?

Giving instructions for everyday activities, such as putting on shoes and socks.
Ask the children to give a list of instructions for everyday activities such as opening a carton of
fruit juice, putting on a hat and coat or getting up in the morning.

Setting the scene

Be prepared for the children to get very excited about this activity! This could be the children's
first experience of work on programming. It offers them an opportunity to give and follow
instructions. When it is the children turn to be the robot you will have the opportunity to observe
their abilities giving and following instructions.
Developing mathematical language and communication
The children will be required to use and understand specific language relate to position and
movement in space. They will also be discussing their decision and refining their language..
Understanding and using properties of position and movement
This activity requires children to recognise movement in a straight line and rotations, and to
describe these movements. It is an ideal opportunity to introduce the idea of angle as a
measure of turn. As the children rotate in role as the robot, they experience turning through the
required angle. If the pathway is marked on the floor in chalk, you can discuss the size of the
angle through which they have turned, e.g. quarter turn, half turn, right angle. You can invite the
children to combine movements by asking them to give the full set of instructions to reach a
carefully chosen target.
Understanding and using measures The children will be visualising, estimating a distance
and then predicting ho many steps will be needed. The steps are being used as a non-standard
unit of length. Similarly, they will be visualising the amount of turn needed and finding a way to
express this.

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Where are we?
Objective: To practise positional vocabulary.

What you need

2 game sheets similar to above picture, pencils.

What to do:
Get the children to agree on and draw a set of characters along the bottom of their sheets.
Players decide who will be the instructor and who will follow instructions. They sit back-to-back
and the instructor draws a character from the bottom of her sheet on to the castle picture. She
describes in detail the position of the character, and the other player has to draw the same
character on to his sheet following the instructions given. When all of the characters have been
drawn the players compare their sheets to see how closely they match.
By doing this activity several times the players refine their use of positional language.
This is not a game with a winner but an activity where the close co-operation of both players is
necessary to achieve good results.

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Activities with coloured plastic shapes

The shapes in the jar are a square, a circle, a rectangle, and a triangle. These are in the primary
colours: red, green, yellow and blue.
They can be used for a variety of activities depending on the expected learning outcomes and
the developmental age of the children.

For very small children or children that have just joined a pre-school, let them play freely with
the shapes so that they become familiar with the different colours and shapes.

Matching
Put a pile of shapes in the middle of a group of three or four children.
Give each of them one shape and ask them to find other shapes that are the same and make a
pile in front of them.
Every child should be given the opportunity to find all of the different shapes.

Put a pile of shapes in the middle of a group of three or four children.

Give each of them one colour and ask them to find other shapes that are the same colour and
make a pile in front of them.
Every child should be given a turn to find each colour.

You can extend this activity by giving each child two shapes or two colours.

Now make work cards of

- blank shapes ( 2, 3, 4 shapes) so that the children can put the correct shape on the card
- one shape in different colours so that children can put the correct colour on the shape
- a mixture of shapes and colours in increasing difficulty
- a grid with colours on the horizontal and shapes on the vertical.

Sorting
Give a pile of shapes to a child and ask her to sort the shapes. When she has done this, ask
her why she sorted them the way she did. Do not tell her how to sort the shapes. There are
lots of ways to sort shapes and the explanation the child gives is the important part of this
exercise.

Number
You can use the pieces for simple counting.
You can put groups of different coloured shapes around the room and have the children go and
find out how many shapes there are in each pile. The children should actually count the shapes
and even arrange them. You can then have each child report back to your question how many
shapes are there? Some children may just say 9 or others could say 9 triangles and the more
advanced children could say 9 green triangles or perhaps 4 blue triangles and 5 green triangles.
It depends on the level of development of your children.

Give a child cards that say e.g. collect 4 triangles (use the shape sign not the word) and 9
circles and so on. Have the child arrange the shapes next to the card. You can also include the
colour if you wish (collect 4 green triangles) and so on. With the oldest children you could have
a group putting their cards and shapes in order and then in turn reporting to the group (and you)
with sentences such as:
I found four green triangles I found five red circles, I found six blue squares.
To check they have listened to each other you could ask them to say what the person next to
them had found. Ravi found four green triangles, Sheeba found five red circles, Rekha found six
blue squares and so on.

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Vocabulary
As the children get older and their concepts of more and less, fewer, least and most, develop,
you should take the opportunity when they are working to ask questions like who has more
circles, the most circles etc. Can you show me how you found out that Ravi has more circles
etc.
Put a pile of different coloured shapes in the middle of a group of three children. Allocate a
colour to each child and ask each child to find as many squares of their colour as possible. Ask
them how many squares they have and who has the most. A good way to show this is to have
them put the square pieces under each other.

Instructions
Children need to learn to develop their listening skills and follow simple instructions.
With a small group of children around the teacher and a pile of appropriate materials in the
middle of the group, a teacher could give the following instructions, checking after each
instruction that the children have understood and followed her directions.

Take a yellow shape and a green shape and put the green shape on top of the yellow shape.
Take a red triangle and a blue circle and put the red triangle under the blue circle.
Put four seeds on the green square and 7 seeds on the red circle.
Make a train of red pieces and yellow pieces.

You no doubt can think of many different sets of instructions and make then more complicated
as the children develop their skills.

Pictures
Children can make pictures with the shapes. A big person or a house or a train or a bus or just
something fantastic!! As they are making their pictures, talk to them individually and ask what
they are making.

You can also make work cards of 'pictures' and have the children put on the pieces. You could
make these pictures in black and white or if you have time even colour them. This is another
matching activity.

Pattern
Recognising pattern is an important mathematical concept. Shapes can be used to make
patterns. You could make work cards with patterns and have the children copy them. Then
make cards with the beginnings of patterns.

You could place two pieces next to each other and ask the child to continue the pattern. This
could be simply a colour pattern: red, blue, red, blue… regardless of the shape.
Or a shape pattern: a square, a circle, a square, a circle….regardless of the colour.
Or a pattern of red square, blue circle, red square, blue circle…..
Make the patterns more difficult when the children can cope with them.

If the children can make their own patterns and explain the pattern to you, they are doing really
well!

Games
Make a game board with different shapes drawn on it. (See fish example)
Make a spinner with the different shapes on it (Circular spinner with arrow or hexagonal or
octagonal spinner)
Put two or three children at each game board and give out 7 shapes to each child.
The children take it in turn to spin the spinner. If the child has the shape that comes up on the
spinner, she may place it on the same shape on the game board. If there is no shape free (all
of them are already covered) or if the child does not have that shape anymore, she misses a
turn. The child to get rid of all of her shapes first is the winner.

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4 Shapes and 4 Colour Game
(This can be adapted to as few shapes and colours as you wish)
Game for four children. Each child picks a coloured bottle top out of the bag. The child with the
blue bottle top starts. Throw the dice. Move your counter the same number of squares as the
number on the dice. When you land on a shape of your colour, collect the shape from the pile.
The idea is to collect FOUR shapes –triangle, circle, rectangle and square- of your colour. The
first person to collect the four shapes of their right colour is the winner. Keep going round the
path of shapes until someone has won.

Another Game on the same board

Make a big continuous (circular or rectangular) game board with coloured shapes on many of
the squares. The children should throw the dice in turn and when they land on a coloured
shape, they can help themselves to the shape from the pile in the middle only if they can name
the shape correctly (optional: and its colour). The winner is the child with the most shapes at the
end of, for example, five minutes.

Follow the Trail

Game for 3 children
How to play
Take turns to move round the board. Begin at START and throw the dice. Move your counter
the same number of squares as the number on the dice. The colour you land on with your first
throw will be the colour for the whole game. When you land on a shape of your colour, collect
the shape from the pile. When all three children have reached the FINISH the winner is the
child with the most shapes of their colour.

SHAPE HOUSE
Make a shape house or any other picture with shapes on it.
Make the house with windows and doors of different shapes that open. (Optional: inside you
could have a picture of an object of that shape.)
Prepare a dice with different shapes on four faces and leave two faces blank. Or use the
hexagonal spinner.
Have a group of children around you and have each child roll the dice in turn. The child should
recognise the shape, decide which window or door to open (optional: and then tell you what the
object is inside). If the child is correct leave the door or window open. Go round the group until
all the doors and windows are open.

Addition Square for number bonds

+ = 6

+ = 6

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