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Put the clothes on the 3-D shapes

1 Comment Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade

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One of my recent goals has been to think up playful ways of teaching 3-D shapes to my kids. We previously did some fun activities to learn about 3-D shapes through play, and I wanted to continue building on those lessons.

The activity I’m featuring today uses the 3-D wooden blocks from our Spielgaben set and was based on an activity listed in the curriculum materials that come with the Spielgaben set. I call this activity “Put the clothes on the 3-D shapes.” It is a fantastic way to help kids focus on the shapes that make up the sides of a 3-D object. It is also playful, so kids don’t even realize they are learning when you “teach” in this manner. Plus, this activity sneaks in some great fine motor practice too!

Note: For more fun ways to learn about shapes, see my teaching shapes to kids page. 

Put the clothes on the 3-D shapes: A fun activity for teaching 3-D shapes to kids through play. This activity really helps kids focus on the shapes of the sides that make up a 3-D object. #shapes #playfullearning #handsonlearning #Spielgaben || Gift of Curiosity

For this activity, I prepared the following materials on a tray:

  • Several half sheets of paper
  • Scotch tape
  • Pencil
  • Kid-friendly scissors
  • Wooden cube
  • Wooden cylinder (Note: I don’t recommend using a cylinder until the child has more practice with simpler shapes like cubes)

Put the clothes on the 3-D shapes: A fun activity for teaching 3-D shapes to kids through play. This activity really helps kids focus on the shapes of the sides that make up a 3-D object. #shapes #playfullearning #handsonlearning #Spielgaben || Gift of Curiosity

QBoy was the first to do this activity. He began by putting the shapes on the paper and tracing them with a pencil.

Put the clothes on the 3-D shapes: A fun activity for teaching 3-D shapes to kids through play. This activity really helps kids focus on the shapes of the sides that make up a 3-D object. #shapes #playfullearning #handsonlearning #Spielgaben || Gift of Curiosity

He then used the scissors to cut out the tracings he made.

Put the clothes on the 3-D shapes: A fun activity for teaching 3-D shapes to kids through play. This activity really helps kids focus on the shapes of the sides that make up a 3-D object. #shapes #playfullearning #handsonlearning #Spielgaben || Gift of Curiosity

He used the scotch tape to place each tracing onto the appropriate surface of the 3-D shape. Note that this is an excellent way for kids to focus on the shapes that make up each side of the 3-D shape, e.g. circles on the end of the cylinder, squares for all faces of the cube.

Put the clothes on the 3-D shapes: A fun activity for teaching 3-D shapes to kids through play. This activity really helps kids focus on the shapes of the sides that make up a 3-D object. #shapes #playfullearning #handsonlearning #Spielgaben || Gift of Curiosity

He then had to cut out a rectangle whose width matched the height of the cylinder and whose length was sufficiently long to wrap around the cylinder. (This was a bit tricky. For beginners, I suggest starting with just the cube and waiting until later to introduce the cylinder to this work.)

Put the clothes on the 3-D shapes: A fun activity for teaching 3-D shapes to kids through play. This activity really helps kids focus on the shapes of the sides that make up a 3-D object. #shapes #playfullearning #handsonlearning #Spielgaben || Gift of Curiosity

Ta da! A fully dressed shape!

Put the clothes on the 3-D shapes: A fun activity for teaching 3-D shapes to kids through play. This activity really helps kids focus on the shapes of the sides that make up a 3-D object. #shapes #playfullearning #handsonlearning #Spielgaben || Gift of Curiosity

After dressing the cylinder, he also dressed the cube.

Put the clothes on the 3-D shapes: A fun activity for teaching 3-D shapes to kids through play. This activity really helps kids focus on the shapes of the sides that make up a 3-D object. #shapes #playfullearning #handsonlearning #Spielgaben || Gift of Curiosity

More resources for learning shapes

More shapes posts from Gift of Curiosity:

  • 20 ideas for teaching shapes
  • 15 books about shapes
  • Magic disappearing shapes
  • Trace the shapes art and fine motor activity
  • How many ways to make a shape?
  • Sand shapes
  • Exploring 3D shapes through play
  • 3D shapes graphing game


For more ideas and free printables to help kids learn shapes, see my Teaching Shapes to Kids page and my Learning Shapes Pinterest Board. 

Follow Katie @ Gift of Curiosity’s board Learning Shapes on Pinterest.

Filed Under: Kindergarten, Fine Motor, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, Shapes Tagged With: Spielgaben

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Reader Interactions

1 Comment

  1. Keerti

    August 19, 2014 at 8:44 pm

    Good one. A great way to learn shapes.

    Reply to this comment

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