As rainy and dreary as the last few days have been, we needed something fun to do to pass our gray afternoon. So after Maddy got home–and before we practiced cartwheels downstairs–we sat down for a sweet snack.
It may not be a New For Us Friday (realllllly), but it was a new activity that involved a little bit of learning and a whole lot of sugar eating.
In my book, that’s a winning combination for any Friday.
- Sweet Shape Snacks: During rest time today, I created some very simple shape cards. I included a triangle, square, rectangle, circle, oval, diamond, and heart. The name of each shape is in large letters on the bottom of each page, and each shape is printed in a different color.
I put a piece of cardstock behind the shape page to make it more sturdy, and I inserted both shape sheets in a plastic sleeve.
Then I told Maddy, Owen, and Cora to meet me at the table so they could be ready for our “Super Sweet Friday Shape Snack“.
The square is almost ready to eat!
I told them that in order to eat their Super Sweet Snacks, they had to first make their Super Sweet Shape. I handed each of them a plastic knife, and I showed them what I meant.
I peeled off one long strand of licorice (we used Twizzler pull-and-peel), and I said, I’m going to use this piece of licorice to make the outline of this shape. I have a question, though. Cora, is this shape a circle or a square?
We gave her a good ‘Woo-hoo!‘ for correctly answering ‘square’, and then I said, Okay, now–before I can eat my licorice–I have to outline the square with licorice.
Watch how I measure this side of the square and then cut my licorice with my knife so that it matches the line properly. I’m going to do that for the whole square. When all sides are covered with licorice, I’m done! My square is complete! And then I can eat my candy.
Immediately, Maddy and Owen wanted to begin. Maddy started with the diamond, and Owen started with the circle. They really loved using the knives, but they enjoyed eating the licorice even more.
After a few completed shapes, I asked what else they could do with the licorice–could they make the square into a house? the circle into a face? I modeled by showing them how I could make the diamond into a kite.Until our bellies could hold no more, we worked on shapes and played with licorice; then we headed downstairs to work on handstands and cartwheels.
This secret little math activity was directed more at Cora’s understanding of shapes and Maddy and Owen’s cutting and measuring skills, but it turned out that Cora more enjoyed cutting and Owen needed to more clearly distinguish the difference between a circle and oval and square and rectangle. Maddy was just happy to have an excuse to eat sweets, use a knife, and talk about school.
It’s a take what you need activity. Happy (kind of) NFUF, shape-name-learning, fine-motor-skills honing, and shape-word-reading!
