Circles and Squares

We started with this game, found here Stepbystepcc.com-Circles. It was a great intro to our theme. 

A Box of Circles   Gather an assortment of items, some round (jar lids, bottle caps, 0-shaped cereal pieces, paper circles) and some not round. Put all of these in a round hatbox or cookie tin and show the container at circle time. Remove the top from the box and show your children that it is a circle. Its outside is round. Now dump out the contents and spread them on the floor. Tell your children that only circles belong in the box. In turn, let them each choose one item to place in the box. Have all the children name the chosen item and tell if they agree whether it belongs in the box. (jar, bowl, plate, lid, juice lid, paper towel roll, candle, votive cup,)

We also reused our felt pizza. 

We did some fun circle art. I traced large plates onto construction paper and cut them out and let the kids glue circle stickers on, yard sale dots and hole reinforcers. 

Mr. W. doesn't look thrilled, but he did actually like the project. 

Then we made circle prints. Like the year before. I did add more paint colors this time, and found a few more circles for them to dip and print. We had canning jar rings, a lidless contact case (double circle), O cookie cutter, empty ribbon spools, and a few lids. 

The kids had some fun circle art.

For snack we had a carrot slices, ritz crackers, and a bagel.

We also made circle snack necklaces. I let them string fruit loops, apple jacks, and cheerios onto string and tied it. They loved that!

We also looked for circles on us, idea also found at stepbystepcc.com. 

Circles On Me   Let your children examine several objects that contain circles (rings, wheeled vehicles, clocks). Then ask them to be detectives and to search for circles on their clothes, on themselves and on each other. They'll find many; for instance, holes in a belt, holes for shoelaces, buttons, polka dots, shape of the eye's iris, hoop ear-rings, and freckles.                                                                                   

We did a circle game. I cut out a number of large circles and placed them on the floor (if you plan on reusing, laminate them). We basically played as musical chairs and had them stop on a circle when the music stopped and tell what color they were on. 

To introduce our square theme I used this cute idea, also from Step By Step Child Care -Squares.

Theme      Is It Square?   Collect a number of familiar items and put them in a large square box. Include some square items, such as handkerchiefs, paper, and blocks, along with items of other shapes. Lay a square blanket or scarf on the floor and show the square box. Help your children discover that the blanket is also a square. Tell them that the box is full of items, but only the square ones may go on the blanket. Then spill out the items on the floor and have the children take turns selecting an item and placing it on the blanket (if it is square) or back on the floor (if it is not square). 

We learned about squares close to Halloween, so we made square pumpkin mobiles, but you could just do square faces. I cut out squares in three different sizes for each child and various black shapes for facial features and let the kids made their own, then as they ate snack I whole punched and tied yarn between them so they could hang from the ceiling. These turned out so cute, my boys were so proud!

We also tried this activity. It was a little tricky for 3 year olds though. 

Make a Square   Display a square shape on your flannel board. Lead your children in counting the four sides and four corners. Cut a piece of yarn the same size as one side of the square. Hold the yarn next to each side of the square to demonstrate that all four sides are the same length. Then give each of your children four equal-length pieces of yarn. (Give some children 10-inch lengths, some 7-inch lengths, and some 5-inch lengths.) Challenge the children to use their yarn to form a square on the floor in front of them. Have them count the sides and corners. Let them compare their squares. Help them discover that longer sides create a larger square.                              

For snack we had half a graham cracker an mini graham crackers.

We sang this little square song that I found in a few places

This Is a Square - sung to "Frere Jacques" 

This is a square, this is a square.
How can you tell? How can you tell?
It has four sides,
All the same size.
It's a square, it's a square. 

To continue learning about shapes you can watch these shows:

(we have Amazon Prime, so these are the ones I could find)

Blue's Clues Season 5 Episode 3: Shape Searchers

Sesame Street Season 38 Episode 4: Baby Bear, Triangle Lover of the Day?

Sesame Street Season 39 Episode 3: Annual Triangle Toss