Play Ideas With Shape Puzzles for Toddlers
Something we love here at ToyVentive is utilizing toys in many different ways in addition to their initial intended purpose. A toy that you may not realize has multiple uses are puzzles! More specifically, we will focus on play ideas with shape puzzles for toddlers!
Puzzles are great for brain development no matter how simple they appear on the surface. When looking at shape puzzles, your child is starting to understand the world around them, including recognizing the shapes that make up objects they see every single day! Working with wooden shape puzzles is a great hands-on way for your child to start to understand and identify shapes!
Curious to learn more? Keep reading and find out all the ways your toddler will benefit from their shape puzzles!
1. Look around and find the shapes around your house
An easy first step is to ask your toddler to find an object around them that has the same shape as one of the puzzle pieces. For example, take your circle piece and ask your child to go find something that looks the same! They may point out your round clock, the pizza they had for lunch, or even the bowl they ate their morning cereal in!
Trying this activity with every shape is a fun way to show just how much you see and interact with shapes on a daily basis. You can use shape puzzles for toddlers everyday to talk about shapes your child saw throughout the day!
2. Compare the shapes
Take the time to compare the pieces in the shape puzzle for toddlers. What shapes are round? What shapes have corners? What are the similarities you see in front of you?
By comparing, your child will start to understand that shapes, although different, can also be similar and be used for similar tasks.
3. Contrast the shapes
Now that you’ve compared the shapes, talk about the differences! Use the similarities you just discussed as the starting point for this conversation. For example, “Our square piece and triangle piece both have points, but do they have a different amount of points? Let’s count and find out!" In this question, you establish that certain shapes have pointed edges but that they also have different amounts of points! This is key in understanding the differences of shapes as the number of points is one main way to identify the different shapes!
Shape puzzles for toddlers allow your child to start to understand the process of comparing and contrasting objects and the world around them!
4. Talk about how shapes can come together and make new shapes!
A fun way to take that extra step with your shape puzzle for toddlers is to display how shapes can come together and make a completely new shape!
Practice this by combining the shapes in front of you and seeing if your toddler recognizes this new shape. Another fun task is to have your child make their own shape by combining several pieces. Give the newly created shape a fun name!
Through this, your child will begin to understand how little pieces come together to create a greater whole.
5. Work on spatial reasoning
Shapes are a great tool for toddlers to work on their spatial reasoning, especially when looking at how shapes can fit only in other shapes that are similar to them. Puzzles overall work on this skill as each piece has a designated spot that will only work for one piece.
Use shape puzzles for toddlers to ask your toddler if they think certain shapes would fit together. Would an oval fit in a triangle? Would a square fit into a rectangle?
6. Count your shapes
As a fun bonus, work on your toddler’s counting skills by asking them to count various aspects of the shape puzzles for toddlers. How many triangle pieces are there? How many shapes are curved? How many corners does a square have?
Counting is a main way to understand the different shapes! Feel free to take it a step further and work on grouping the shapes based on the similarities and differences you identified earlier on!
7. Trace the shapes
Incorporate some arts and crafts and use your shape puzzle pieces as a stencil! By Tracing the shapes, your toddler works on their fine motor skills while also creating a completely new activity!
Once your shapes have been traced, cut them out and use these new pieces however you want! Make patterns with them. Color the shapes as objects they see around the house from our first suggestion!
You can also use the stencils to create your own shape puzzle for toddlers. Use all of your child's favorite shapes and colors to make the puzzle even more interesting for them. The puzzle could be made of paper or using playdough to make it more exciting.
Shape Puzzles for Toddlers
All in all, learning shapes is one of the first things your child will be taught at school! Working with shape puzzles for toddlers at home is a way to help work on their development, create a strong bond between you and your child, and give them an advantage when they go to school!
Understanding shapes is the building block for your child in understanding bigger concepts and identifying objects around them. As adults, we take for granted just how much our knowledge of shapes play a part in our processing of the world! Take the time to help your child learn shapes, growing your own appreciation for those that taught you shapes while teaching your child important fundamentals for their own learning!
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