Your Child Will Learn
Drawing and combining shapes to make a new object
Here’s What to Do
- Ask your child to choose and draw a large shape on a piece of paper, and then to cut it out. This will be the monster’s head. (Note: some children will need adult help with cutting.)
- Have your child draw smaller shapes (like circles, triangles, rectangles, squares) and then cut out those shapes. If you have different colored paper, have them cut shapes out of different colors.
- Make a monster! Tell your child to glue or tape the smaller shapes onto the circle to make a monster face. They can draw more details onto the paper shapes if they’d like.
- Name your monster! What kind of shapes do they like to eat?
Put PEER Into Action
PAUSE
- Find a quiet place with a clear surface to draw.
ENGAGE
- “Can you draw some triangles? Rectangles? Small circles?”
- “How can you use those shapes to make a monster face?”
ENCOURAGE
- If your child is still mastering using scissors, try putting your hand on top of theirs to guide their cutting. If drawing shapes is frustrating for your child, make dots on the paper to help them trace the shape.
- Remember that this activity is more about the shapes, and less about how “good” their monster looks in the end.
REFLECT
- Who is your monster? Which shapes did you use the most to make them?
Not Quite Ready
Have your child draw shapes on the monster’s face instead of cutting them out.
Ready for More
Use shapes to make a monster’s whole body.
As Your Child Masters This Skill
They will begin to understand how shapes can be combined to make new objects.
Time to Complete
20 minutes
Materials Needed
Paper (different colors if you have it), scissors, tape or glue, crayons/markers/colored pencils