Close Your Eyes and Feel the Shape

1. 1

   Cut sturdy cardboard into several shapes, such as a circle, triangle, rectangle, square, and pentagon.

2. 2

   Before the game, feel each shape together and name its features: a circle has one smooth curved edge, a triangle has three corners, and a rectangle has two long sides and two short sides.

3. 3

   Ask your child to close their eyes, choose one shape card, and feel it. “What shape do you think it is?”

4. 4

   A circle may be easy to recognize, while a rectangle and pentagon can take more careful exploration.

5. 5

   If the first guess is not right, ask about a defining feature. If your child calls a rectangle a square, for example, ask, “Are all four sides the same length?”

6. 6

   When the guess is right, ask, “How many sides did you feel? How many corners?” to revisit the clues.

7. 7

   Then switch roles. Let your child choose a shape and see whether you can identify it by touch.

What to notice

• Identifies a shape by feeling only its edges and corners Geometry and Spatial Sense
• Uses words such as “edge” and “corner” to describe the shape they are holding Communicating and Speaking

Tips

• Counting sides and corners without looking can be confusing. Your child can hold one corner or side with one hand as a starting point, then trace all the way around with the other.
• If they still cannot identify the shape, open their eyes and compare what they felt with what they see.

Developmental benefits

• Cognitive: Feeling the edges and corners of a shape without looking helps your child notice and compare defining features of different shapes.
• Language: As your child explains their answer, they practice using words such as "side," "corner," "long," and "short" to describe a shape more clearly.