Simple shapes formulate fun learning!

Joey & Ezra, grueling away, hard at work in their homeschool room.

The boys, bleary-eyed and frizzle-headed, wander to the kitchen every morning with a happy "good morning" and warm hug. Even before we eat breakfast, they are asking what we are going to do today. Sometimes, I'll place something on the table to give them a hint for what to expect - like an assortment of items that start with a certain letter or a game that they will learn or a gazetteer which symbolizes a hike for the day; other times, I will actually fashion their breakfast into the clue (like pancakes made in myriad shapes or whipping up some delicious egg-and-bread bird nests).

Recently, while Joey was creating patterns with some of his shaping toys (anticipate an upcoming blog topic), I gave Ezra some miniature shape-cutters to use in creating stars and hearts out of his apple slices. Since Ezra loves food, this was a perfect activity to keep his interest, to help with developing fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, and to encourage imaginative play.  It is also highly adaptable!  

Any sized cookie cutters and a wide assortment of food material can be used for this activity: try bread or cheese, other fruits or thinly-sliced vegetables, luncheon meat, etc.  Use this for breakfast, snack time, lunch, or even dinner.  If you do not have miniature shape-cutters, use a blunt knife to make basic squares, triangles, rectangles, etc.

Great versatility exists, too, in how the shapes are used for learning. At the most basic level, Ezra learned the names of shapes he did not know before and showed his understanding of naming the shapes he did know. For Joey, I made a pattern line of shapes and asked him to add the next one to the chain. For example, following a star, a star, a circle, a star, a star, a circle, he would thoughtfully position a star-shaped apple chunk. Older children can create an elaborate pattern or you could create a pattern, have the child study it for one minute, and then mix up the shapes and ask the child to recreate it.  The ideas are endless!

So, grab some shape-cutters, a delectable medium, and have some fun fashioning home learning.  

Comment on how you use shapes and how this inspires other ideas!  For example, Joey was so enamored with shapes and patterns that he used bits of lunch to form the letters of his name.  (I did help him with the E.)