My girl (24 months) has learned all basic shapes very quickly through a couple of videos we found on YouTube by TerrapinStation5 http://www.youtube.com/user/TerrapinStation5/videos (they have lots of interesting early Learning videos which my girls loves and learns from them very quickly): Baby Einstein - Discovering Shapes: http://youtu.be/1ws0daajV4w
I wasn’t too fond of Baby Einstein - Baby Newton: Discovering Shapes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ifu1LoB8dUs with the song “I know my shapes” - as it shows 2D shapes being made into a drawing of a clown then this clown comes alive and shapes become 3D but they still call them by the names of 2D shapes like “triangle” instead of “piramid” which is being shown and “circle” instead of “sphere” which will confuse the child who’s being introduced to 3D shapes
I wonder if anyone knows any free videos or DVD’s I can buy that cover other shapes (apart from basic: cirle, oval, square, rectangle, triangle, diamond (why everyone calls it diamond if geometrical name is rhombus, same with “star” shape - “star” is a very broad name, and what is shown is usually a pentagram)? sorry for the rant :mad: )) and 3D shapes? I’d pay for a DVD like that as it seems the only way we can learn anything now…
All I manage to find so far is people showing or drawing figures and naming them, it bores my baby and me immediately…
Thank you
For some advanced 3-d shapes we found a very simple and fun solution - counting sticks and play-dough.
I wish I can share a photo of our shapes, but dont have camera at the moment. But simply make play-dough balls and use them as connectors for counting sticks (or toothpicks for smaller size ones) in order to form a shape. They look really neat, and it can be a fun activity as well
Your Baby/Child can discover is really good at explaining how shapes work. I want to memorize the “Special Quadrilateral” song. It surprised me though, my 5-year-old has know his shapes for some time. Yesterday he asked me what the name was for a three-sided polygon. “You mean a triangle?” Yes, that’s it! It was neat to see that he really understands the principle behind what makes the shapes be what they are. I was thinking about the “diamond” shape yesterday too.
For 3-D shapes, my kids have picked them up from Starfall.com.
I’m very fascinated by http://wholemovement.com/, and the intricate and varied creations Bradford Hansen-Smith has been able to create by folding circles. I haven’t done any of it yet, but I plan on it soon.
We own the same set, Mela Bala, but you are braver than me! I haven’t filled them yet. I get nervous about the kids cracking the plastic, so we only use them under direct supervision. We created a couple of folding shapes printed on cardstock, with a stack of more to finish at some point. I reinforce the whole thing with packing tape and they’re pretty sturdy. The kids get a chance to color them in first before i help them fold and they have a real sense of ownership. Plus, I don’t care if they get destroyed because they’re only cardstock. I can;'t find the original link I used, but here’s a couple to get you started: http://www.fun-stuff-to-do.com/geometric-shapes-to-print.html
There’s also Peter Weatherall, my son is his biggest fan ever. lol
