Using the Shapes Song, students learn all about shapes, including Shape Names and Shape Recognition. The Shapes Song by Have Fun Teaching is a song that teaches the shapes. Shapes have names their made of angles and lines, there are flat shapes and solid shapes we see them all the…
Pointy corners and straight sides
Kindergartners don't measure angles yet, but they do start noticing them as the corners of shapes. They count sides and corners to tell shapes apart: triangle = 3 sides, 3 corners and square = 4 sides, 4 corners. They learn that a circle has no corners at all. They also find corners in the real world, like the edge of a table or the tip of a slice of pizza. The click moment is when kids run their finger around a shape and count the "pointy parts" out loud.
Five-year-olds learn shapes with their hands and bodies. These moves make corners easy to spot.
Give kids craft sticks and play dough balls. They build a triangle, a square and a rectangle, using the dough balls as corners. Counting the dough balls makes corners something kids can touch and count.
Why it works: going from real objects to pictures to symbols is a core recommendation of the U.S. Department of Education's elementary math guide.
Try it withShapes SongSongsOpen it →A shapes song helps kids remember names and how many sides and corners each one has. Play it while kids trace shapes in the air with their fingers, and add a clap for every corner.
Why it works: words set to a repeating melody are easier to recall than the same words spoken (Wallace, 1994).
Try it withShapes SongSongsOpen it →Hold up an object and ask, "Does it have corners? How many?" Let partners explain their thinking before you check. Talking about shapes builds math vocabulary and helps kids notice the details that make each shape different.
Why it works: using clear, consistent math words out loud is one of the U.S. Department of Education's recommendations for elementary math.
Not formally. Kindergartners learn about corners, also called vertices, as a way to describe and sort shapes. Measuring angles comes much later, in 4th grade.
Let them run a finger around a shape and stop at every pointy part. Count the stops together. Then compare a triangle and a square to see which has more.
Most kindergartners learn circles, squares, triangles, rectangles and hexagons, plus a few 3D shapes like cubes, cones and spheres.
Go on a shape hunt in the kitchen or on a walk. Ask, "How many sides? How many corners?" Short, playful talk works best.
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