12 Fun and Educational Shape Activities for Toddlers: From Montessori Hands-On Learning to Printables

Shapes can be so much fun. They can be found everywhere, from buildings to things we eat, to signs we see on the street. So take advantage of these moments while you are with your toddler. Share the things you are seeing and have fun. Learning shapes is the first step towards learning math skills, which we know are very important skills to have. So whether you are raising the next Frank Lloyd Wright, Einstein, or even Ms. Frizzle start them out with some fun, purposeful play with shapes.

Explore a variety of shape activities for toddlers. You can find easy DIY shape crafts, some Montessori-inspired hands-on learning ideas, and then move on to some toddler-friendly Free Shape printables.

11 Fun and Educational Shape Activities for Toddlers: From Montessori Hands-On Learning to Printables

Teaching toddlers shapes can be a lot of fun! There are many different ways to do it, and the activities can be educational and entertaining. On this page, we will explore a variety of shape activities for toddlers. You can find easy do it yourself shape crafts, some Montessori-inspired hands-on learning ideas, and then move on to toddler-friendly printables.

Let’s get started!

Teaching Toddlers Shapes

One way to teach shapes to toddlers is through crafts. A simple and easy shape craft is a paper plate shape collage. All you need for this activity are some paper plates, glue, and whatever materials you want to use for the collage (construction paper, tissue paper, etc). Cut the paper plates into different shapes and let your toddler glue them onto a piece of paper. This is a great activity for teaching different shapes, colors, and textures.

Another fun shape activity for toddlers is to create a shape scavenger hunt. This can be done both inside and outside. Make a list of different shapes you want your toddler to find, and then help them search for those items. For example, you may want to look for a square box, a circular can, a triangular piece of paper, etc. This is a great way to get your toddler moving and exploring their environment.

If you’re looking for something a little more hands-on, try these Montessori-inspired shape activities. First, you’ll need to gather some materials. For this activity, you’ll need a variety of small objects that are all different shapes (buttons, coins, blocks, etc). You will also need a tray or shallow dish for each shape. Label each tray with a shape, then put the corresponding objects into that tray. Let your toddler explore the shapes and match the things to the tray. This is a great way to introduce shape names and concepts.

Teaching Toddlers Shapes Through Play

There are also many different shape printables that you can use with your toddler. These are great for teaching shapes, colors, and numbers. You can find a variety of printables Here.

Shape Activities for Toddlers

We used our Geometric shaped blocks from Learning Resources with the shape pack from 1+1+1=1 for this wonderful lesson.

Guidecraft rainbow blocks are the best blocks ever. We have 2 sets, and they get played with all of the time. I have found so many ways to teach them through play. We’ve used them for shape learning here. They helped with our amazing color learning activities and I’ve even used them with the older boys for art. Where we explored color mixing (that was really cool). So as you can see, we are a big fan of these blocks.

Reggio Inspired activities using the shadows in the room. Children love to incorporate natural light and shadows into their play. It is fascinating to watch how they explore and learn on their own.

When you are looking to organize all of these blocks, check out this article on how to store magnetic tiles.

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Color and Shape Activities for Toddlers

Block play days! Get out all of your blocks, and just let the children build. They use many different shapes and have a fun, hands-on learning experience. You can also easily introduce pattern making with the blocks; start easy using 2 different shapes, for instance, an A B pattern with circles and squares(circle/square/circle/square). You can gradually add shapes and different patterns as they master them.

This shape activity I put together using 1+1+1=1 shape pack. I made the clothespins to match, this is great for fine motor skills and visual recognition.