Early Math Counts

• Colored foam craft sticks (found at craft stores)

If you can’t find these, you can cut sheets of craft foam into strips or buy colored wooden craft sticks. Separate the craft sticks by color and label the correct number of sticks with a shape’s name, number of sides and a small drawing of the shape. For a triangle, use three yellow craft sticks and write the number three on each of the sticks, as well as the word “triangle” and a picture of a triangle. Make enough groupings for a triangle, a square, a rectangle (remember that two of the four sticks need to be cut shorter and the same size for the rectangle), a pentagon, a hexagon and an octagon. Once the sticks are ready, place them in a bin full of water. Wet foam sticks to windows, whiteboards, cookie sheets or easels. If you are using wooden craft sticks, put all of the sticks in a basket or bin and provide a surface that the children can use to construct their shapes.

Note: Small parts pose a choking hazard and are not appropriate for children age five or under. Be sure to choose lesson materials that meet safety requirements.

1. Explain to the children that today they are going to make shapes. They will use craft sticks/popsicle sticks to make squares, triangles, rectangles, hexagons, pentagons and octagons.
2. Describe and explain hexagons, pentagons and octagons to the children. Point out how many sides each of the shapes have.
3. Ask the children to point out various objects around the room that are in the shape of squares, triangles, rectangles, hexagons, pentagons and octagons.

1. The children will take turns retrieving one stick from the water and reading the number on it. The number will tell the child how many more sticks he/she will need to find of that color to construct his/her shape. The children will hunt for their sticks and stick them to their surfaces. (Wet foam sticks to surfaces like a removable sticker.)
2. Once the children have all of the sticks that they need to make their shapes, they will be able to look at the pictures of the shapes on their sticks and identify which shapes they are going to build. They may need help reading the name of the shape written on the stick. Each child will then build a shape and count the number of sides.
3. Repeat the activity for all of the shapes. When they are finished building all of the shapes, the children can complete the activity on their own.
4. You can also play a little game by calling out a shape and having the children rush to be the first to point out the shape.

Additional Extensions

• Using either the sticks to trace or freehand to draw, the children can draw their shapes on a piece of paper and label each shape’s attributes. For example, if a child is constructing a triangle, the child will draw a picture of a triangle and then write the word “triangle” below the shape. The child would also write that the triangle has three sides. The children can make a “shapes” book of all of the shapes that they build.

• Polygon: A plane shape having three or more straight sides
• Quadrilateral: A polygon with four sides
• Square: A quadrilateral with four equal sides and four right angles
• Triangle: A polygon with three angles and three sides
• Rectangle: A quadrilateral with two pairs of opposite equal parallel sides
• Hexagon: A polygon with six sides
• Pentagon: A polygon with five sides
• Octagon: A polygon with eight sides

Connect examples of common objects with their shapes.

Early Math Glossary

Adapt Lesson for Toddlers

Toddlers may:

• Not easily identify shapes
• Not be able to build the shapes
• Not recognize the name of each shape
• Not be able to draw shapes

Child care providers may:

• Help the child pick all of the same color sticks and then provide support while the child is reading his/her stick
• Use the clues on the stick (the number of sticks needed, the picture of the shape and the word of the shape) to help the children determine how many more sticks they will need to collect and build their shapes
• Once the shape is built, together with the toddler, count the number of sides on the shape

Adapt Lesson for Preschoolers

Preschoolers may:

• Be able to identify a variety of shapes
• Be able to draw and talk about the attributes of several different shapes
• Not be able to draw complicated shapes

Child care providers may:

• Provide paper and crayons so that the children can transfer their constructed shapes onto the paper and draw a picture using those shapes
• Provide a blank book (several sheets of blank paper stapled together) that the children can use to record their shapes and the shape’s attributes (for instance, a child building an octagon will draw a picture of the shape, write the word “octagon,” note the number of sides and then draw a picture of a stop sign)