These bright and colorful Shape Crafts for Kids are perfect for toddlers and preschoolers to reinforce their knowledge while learning new skills! Along with colors and animal names, shapes are among the first things little kids learn. Most children start identifying shapes around 18 months of age, and by age 3 or 3.5, most can identify a few basic geometric figures like circles and squares.
Of course, you can encourage younger kids and even babies by offering them shape-sorter toys. This helps them get familiar with feeling curves, corners, and sides. Always use the right names for the shapes so it becomes easier for them down the line. Fun books about shapes don’t hurt either!
Fun Books about Shapes for Kids
- Shapes That Roll by Karen Nagel
- The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns
- When a Line Bends . . . A Shape Begins by Rhonda Gowler Greene
- Shape by Shape by Suse MacDonald
- Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh
If you’ve got a dinosaur fan at home, a dinosaur shape match activity is exactly what you need! With various shapes and lots of colors, they’ll love playing around with it. But why stop there? Let’s dive into 20 creative ways to bring geometry to life.
The Educational Power of Shape Play
Why is shape recognition so vital? It’s not just about naming a triangle. Learning shapes helps children develop:
- Visual Discrimination: Noticing the difference between a square and a rectangle is a precursor to identifying the difference between letters like “b” and “d.”
- Early Math Skills: Shapes are the building blocks of geometry. Understanding how shapes fit together leads to better spatial reasoning.
- Fine Motor Control: Cutting, tracing, and gluing specific shapes requires a high level of hand-eye coordination.
20 Creative Shape Crafts to Try Today
1. Shape Monster “Feeding” Game
Turn a recycled tissue box into a “Shape Monster.” Cut a specific shape for the mouth (like a giant triangle). Kids have to find and “feed” the monster only the cardstock shapes that match its mouth!
2. Paper Plate Shape Suncatchers
Cut the center out of a paper plate in the shape of a heart, star, or circle. Cover the hole with clear contact paper and let your child stick colorful tissue paper squares onto it. Hang it in a window to see the shapes glow!
3. Contact Paper Shape Collage
Tape a large piece of clear contact paper (sticky side out) to a wall or window. Provide pre-cut shapes of various textures—felt, foam, and paper—and let your toddler create a “sticky” masterpiece.
4. Shape-Built Robots
This is a classic! Provide a tray of squares (for the body), rectangles (for legs), and circles (for eyes). Let your child engineer their own robot using these components.
5. Magic Tape Resist Shapes
Use masking tape to create large shapes on a piece of white cardstock. Let your child paint over the entire page with watercolors. Once dry, peel away the tape to reveal clean, white shapes amidst a sea of color.
6. Sponge Stamp Art
Cut ordinary kitchen sponges into basic shapes. Dip them in washable paint and let your child “stamp” patterns. This is great for teaching repetition and rhythm in art.
7. Shape Pizza Party
Cut a large brown circle for the “crust” and a red one for the “sauce.” Then, provide “toppings”: green squares (peppers), black circles (olives), and yellow rectangles (cheese).
8. Craft Stick Shape Puzzles
Paint four popsicle sticks to match and lay them side-by-side to draw a large square across them. Jumble them up and ask your child to reassemble the square!
9. Tangram Animal Art
Using the traditional seven pieces of a tangram (triangles, squares, and parallelograms), show your child how to arrange them to look like a cat, a bird, or a boat.
10. Shape Road Maps
Draw large shapes on butcher paper using thick black lines. Let your child drive their toy cars along the “roads,” following the curves of the circle and the sharp turns of the triangle.
11. Button-Trace Shapes
Draw a large shape on a piece of paper and provide a bowl of colorful buttons. Have your child place the buttons along the outline of the shape to practice fine motor precision.
12. Leaf and Petal Shapes
Head outside for a “Nature Shape Hunt.” Find heart-shaped leaves or circular pebbles and glue them down to create a natural collage.
13. Foil-Wrapped Shapes
Cut sturdy cardboard into shapes and let your child wrap them in aluminum foil. They can then use markers to decorate their “shiny” silver shapes.
14. Shape Houses and Villages
Use a large square for the house, a triangle for the roof, and small rectangles for the windows. This helps kids see how shapes combine to form everyday objects.
15. Marshmallow and Toothpick 3D Shapes
For older preschoolers, use mini marshmallows and toothpicks to build 3D cubes and pyramids. It’s a delicious way to learn about vertices and edges.
16. Chalk Shape Maze
Draw a “maze” on the driveway using only one type of shape as the “safe path.” Your child has to hop from circle to circle to get to the other side.
17. Bubble Wrap Shape Printing
Cut bubble wrap into shapes, paint the “bumpy” side, and press it onto paper. The resulting texture makes for a very “cool” looking star or moon.
18. Shape Rainbows
Instead of traditional arcs, build a rainbow using colored shapes. A red square, orange circle, yellow triangle, and so on.
19. Felt Shape Sorting Board
Felt naturally sticks to felt. Create a simple board with shape outlines and let your toddler match felt cutouts to the correct spots.
20. Salt Dough Shape Ornaments
Make a batch of salt dough and use cookie cutters to create various shapes. Bake them, paint them, and hang them up to celebrate your “shape of the week.”
Comparison of Basic Shapes for Toddlers
| Shape | Sides | Corners | Found In Nature? |
| Circle | 0 | 0 | Yes (The Sun/Moon) |
| Square | 4 (Equal) | 4 | Rarely |
| Triangle | 3 | 3 | Yes (Mountains) |
| Rectangle | 4 | 4 | No (Mostly man-made) |
Tips for Teaching Shapes Successfully
Pro Tip: Don’t just stick to the paper! Point out “real-world” shapes. The television is a rectangle, the dinner plate is a circle, and the “Yield” sign is a triangle.
- Follow the Interest: If your child loves dinosaurs, do the dinosaur shape match. If they love cars, build a shape garage.
- Sensory is Key: Let them feel the “pointiness” of a triangle and the “smoothness” of an oval.
- Keep it Positive: If they call a square a “box,” validate them! “Yes, it is shaped like a box! We call that shape a square.”
