Quilt squares are an excellent example of shapes in the real world. You can show your child examples of real quilt patterns in the book The Quilting Bee by Gail Gibbons (or you can find it here on OpenLibrary.org). Next, let’s explore some shapes as we make our own patterns with this activity.
What you need:
- construction paper
- glue stick
- scissors
What to do:
Start by cutting out a variety of shapes fromconstructino paper, including triangles, squares, rectangles, and any other shapes you have reviewed with your child.
Next, give your child a large blank sheet of construction paper and invite them to create their own quilt pattern. As they work with the shapes, practice naming them and explore how some shapes can join together to make new shapes, like a square with two triangles can become a trapezoid or two triangles can become a square or a rhombus.

When your child has created a pattern they like, glue down the pieces and see if they want to name their pattern.
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