Attribute blocks help early learners master two-dimensional shape recognition since they are in the form of circles, squares, rectangles, triangles and hexagons. For younger students, hold up one shape at a time and discuss its characteristics. Ask the students to answer questions about the blocks, such as how many sides the shape has, if the sides are curved or straight, how many corners it has and if the sides are all the same length or different. Play "What Am I?" with the blocks, giving the students clues, such as "I'm a shape with four sides."
For this early learning activity, ask a volunteer to sort the attribute blocks in any manner he wishes. When the student has finished, ask him to explain how he sorted the blocks. Then, ask another volunteer to sort the blocks in a different way and to explain how she sorted them. Continue to ask for volunteers to sort the blocks. Increase the difficulty of this activity by asking one student to sort the blocks and a different student to examine the sorted blocks and explain how they were sorted; for example, "John sorted all the blocks according to color."
In this early learning activity, you need a large piece of paper, such as blank newsprint or butcher paper. Draw two large circles that overlap each other about 25 percent (Venn diagram). Label each circle with a different characteristic of the attribute blocks, such as "blue" and "squares." Then, ask a student to sort the blocks and place them in the appropriate circles; for example, placing blocks that are both blue and square in the overlapping area of the circles. She should place blocks that do not fit either characteristic outside both circles. Change the attributes and ask a different student to sort the attribute blocks.
Recognizing patterns is an important skill for early learners. Place three attribute blocks with different characteristics in a row. Tell the student this is a pattern, and ask him to repeat the pattern. Continue making different patterns, and increase the difficulty. When the students have a good grasp of the concept, make a pattern and then repeat it to the halfway point. Ask a student to finish the pattern. A variation of this idea is to make two sections of a longer pattern but remove one or more blocks. Ask a student to replace the blocks that are missing.
Second and third graders can use attribute blocks to study symmetry. Prepare enough handouts that each student will have one paper with a six-sided figure, where all sides are of equal length. Draw a dotted line through the center. Each student will also need a set of attribute blocks. Tell the students to fill the shape symmetrically using three different shapes of attribute blocks. The students should trace and label each shape.
Fourth graders can use attribute blocks to explore angles. For this activity, each student needs a set of attribute blocks and a protractor. Ask students to trace around the various shapes. Using the protractor, they should measure, and label, the interior angles of each shape. Do the angles in each shape add up to 360 degrees? Are there any right angles?