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Looking for a new activity to keep my preschooler engaged and learning? Check out this easy to set up DIY shape sorter. Not only is it fun and interactive, but it also helps little ones learn about shapes and develop fine motor skills. Whether you’re looking for a rainy day project or just a fresh idea to keep your child entertained, this DIY shape sorter is sure to be a hit.
Table Of Contents
- Why You’ll Love Making This Shape Activity
- Materials Needed
- How to Set Up DIY Shape Sorting
Why You’ll Love Making This Shape Activity
You’ll love making this DIY shape sorter because it’s a fun, hands-on project that helps your child learn about shapes and develop fine motor skills. This activity encourages sorting, matching, and recognizing shapes, which are essential skills for early childhood development.
Plus, it’s a great way to recycle those empty toilet paper rolls and use materials you probably already have at home.
This project is easy to set up and customize based on your child’s age and learning level.
Materials Needed
- Construction paper
- Scissors
- Cardboard
- Toilet paper rolls
- Glue
- Hot glue gun
- Sharpie
- Craft sticks
How to Set Up DIY Shape Sorting
- Choose and Prepare the Shapes: Decide which shapes you want your child to practice. Depending on their age, select 3-6 shapes such as circles, squares, triangles, stars, etc. Cut several of each shape out of construction paper. Write the name of each shape on the corresponding cutouts with a sharpie.
- Attach Shapes to Craft Sticks: Glue the shapes to the ends of the craft sticks. Make sure the name of the shape is visible. This step will help reinforce shape recognition as your child sorts them.
- Prepare the Base: Cut a piece of cardboard large enough to accommodate 3-6 toilet paper rolls standing upright. This will be the base for your shape sorter.
- Attach the Rolls: Using a hot glue gun, glue the toilet paper rolls vertically to the cardboard base. Space them out evenly to ensure there’s enough room for your child to insert the craft sticks.
- Label the Rolls: Draw the shapes and write their names on the outside of each toilet paper roll. Make sure each roll corresponds to one of the shapes you’ve prepared.
- Set Up and Play: Place the shape sorter on a flat surface and invite your child to start sorting. Show them how to match the shapes on the craft sticks to the shapes on the toilet paper rolls and insert the sticks into the correct tubes.
- Make it fun: Hide the craft sticks with the shapes around the house or outside and turn this DIY Shape Sorter into a scavenger hunt!
There is no limit to your toddler’s energy and curiosity. That energy and curiosity although a joy can be challenging at times. Their interest in just about everything around them is what makes them great learners. One and two year olds can soak up so much just from their senses!
But as a teacher or parent that thirst for learning can be exhausting. That is why I created this toddler and preschooler program. To help you get the most out of this time with your curious toddler without having to come up with creative ways to play and interact with them.
Play2Learn for Toddlersincludes 20 Units for toddlers. Each 2-week toddler unit has 20 super easy to set up and engaging activities for toddlers 18 months to 3 years.
Play2Learn Preschoolwhich includes 20 Units for preschoolers. Each 2-week preschoolers unit has 20 unique and easy to set up and engaging activities for preschoolers 3 years to 5 years.That’s over 800 learning activities for your toddler and preschooler at your fingertips! So many ideas you and your child will never be bored again!
Thesetoddler and preschool lesson plans and activitieswill definitely keep you and your toddler and preschooler busy playing and learning!
Click here for more information: Play2Learn
Book:Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids
Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more informationExciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy atAmazon.
Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.
Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.
Book:Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids
Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more.
Find out more and grab your copyhere.
Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.
Book:Big Book of Riddles for Kids
Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast?The Big Riddle Book for Kids, of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles tha. t show them how to think outside the box.
- 350 riddles for kids—Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
- Level up their skills—Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
- Double-check their work—Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.
Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!
Designed for kids ages 6 yearsold and up.
TV Show:Curious Crafting
I’m so excited to share my crafting TV showCurious Craftingwhich launched in July 2022 onTVOkidsandTVOkids YouTube! Season 2 aired in August 2023! My show was also nominated in 2023 for Best Live Action Preschool Series by the Youth Media Alliance Awards of Excellence.
Curious Crafting Season 1 is also now airing in Australia on ABC! Watch it here!
Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.
In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create.
Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.
This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up.
