Shape Scavenger Hunt

Mathematical Foundations

Key Skills and Concepts

Topics covered:
Names of Shapes
Properties of Shapes
Real World Links

Equipment needed:
A piece of paper or mini white board to record results
Ideally a list of shapes to find or the table below
 

Overview:

 

Shape names are much easier to learn at an early age. This activity is a great way to get children recognising a wide range of shapes and naming them correctly.

 

The shapes used have been selected because pupils in high school find them particularly difficult to identify (specifically parallelogram, rhombus, trapezium and kite). The earlier your child can master these shapes the better.When you talk about properties try and be mathematical. For example saying that a rectangle is longer than a square is not a mathematical property and not always true. Saying that opposite sides are equal is much better.

Instructions:
Shapes are all around us and we do not often think about what these shapes are. When you are out and about encourage your child to try and spot different shapes and name them correctly. A Shape Scavenger Hunt is a great way to turn this activity into a challenge and have your child complete a full set of real world shapes as well as draw them and name some properties about that shape (eg a square has 4 equal sides)

Key Questions to ask:
What property of this shape makes it different from other shapes?
Why do you think they decided to make this real world object this shape?

 

Key words to use in your questioning...

- Equal

- Parallel

- Right angle

- Lines of symmetry

Extension:
There are plenty more shapes you can add to this list...
Isosceles, scalene and equilateral triangles
3D shapes