Use state standards, if available, to determine the shapes to teach preschoolers. State standards may list only basic shapes such as triangles, circles, rectangles and squares at the preschool level. Check to see if your state or campus has any specific named shapes in their preschool teaching standards. If not, use basic shapes and thoroughly explore their characteristics, real-life examples and how to create them.
Preschool-age children enjoy being read aloud to. Literature can assist preschool math concept understanding. A variety of titles assist a teacher in teaching many concepts. Read a book aloud to students such as "Shapes, Shapes, Shapes" by Tana Hoban or "Color Zoo" by Lois Ehlert. After reading and discussing the book, have students draw shape pictures that mimic those in the story. Place the pictures on the wall and have students review shapes using them.
Give students the opportunity to explore and manipulate shapes with art projects. Provide preschoolers with precut basic shapes in different sizes. First have students explore the shapes and sort them into categories such as having the same number of sides or curved lines versus straight lines. After explorations, have students manipulate several shapes together on a piece of paper, combining to create a new shape. Give students glue to attach the shapes to background paper after they are happy with their design.
Your state or local standards probably specify a more thorough understanding than simple shape identification for preschool age children. Additional learning goals may also include the ability to identify the shape of everyday objects, to create shapes from arts and crafts materials and to manipulate multiple shapes to create new shapes.