Playing with Cardboard Shapes and Loose Parts
Shapes are everywhere we look from a rectangular house with a triangle peak to the circular shape of a flower. Children can have fun creating pictures with shapes or simply playing with shapes with this fun idea. Watch our video to get some play inspiration and to see how cardboard shapes can be played with.
Grab some cardboard from a box and cut out some shapes. If you want some help with this, download and print the shape templates below and use them to draw around on your cardboard. Don’t forget to cut out the middle of your shapes, leaving a large frame so that the cardboard stays stiff. You may need more than one of each shape. Consider making the following set that we used:
2 x circles
2 x rectangles
2 x squares
4 x triangles
4 x half circles
Tip: Cut out one of each shape including the inside and use it as a template to make your sets. This way all your triangles, rectangles etc… will look the same.
Learning about shapes doesn’t have to be boring! Using shapes in a playful way like making pictures may naturally bring shape talk into playtime. Children may talk about how they are using a circle for a head for example and this learning could be extended with further discussion of which shape would be good for the body, feet and arms. Adding loose parts allows the pictures to come to life! Children can fill in the shapes with loose parts but also add loose parts to their picture where the cardboard shapes can’t be used like for hair on a person or grass on the ground for example.
Some children may prefer to make abstract patterns or pictures using the cardboard shapes or simply using them alone. They can still be extended through their play using the addition of loose parts. Filling in the shapes using loose parts will develop creativity and problem solving. The loose parts themselves are shapes so children will be discovering which loose parts shapes fit best into a rectangle or a circle.
One last idea we have for our cardboard shapes is to use them as stencils. Children could draw around them on a big piece of paper to make a picture or pattern. They could also be used outside with chalk!
Enjoy your play with cardboard shapes! We are sure you and the children will come up with your own amazing ideas using these shapes.
