The circle is the first shape that most children learn, and they often have the easiest time drawing it. If your child needs practice working on the circle, you can guide him in making a beaver head. Have him draw two extra large circles, two large circles, two medium-sized circles and two small circles on construction paper, then assist him in cutting out each circle. Assemble the beaver by gluing the two extra large circles together to make a figure eight and the two large circles together to make a separate figure eight. Turn the large figure eight on its side, and glue it to the center of the extra large figure eight. The extra large figure eight will serve as the face, and the large figure eight will be the cheeks. Next, attach the medium circles to the face as eyes, and the small circles to the very top of the head as ears. Allow him to be creative and add teeth, and color in the beaver as he chooses.
Squares are simple enough for most children to identify, but if your child struggles with the four side and four angle concept, help her to remember by teaching her a rhyme or song. Here is one suggestion, to the tune of "You Are My Sunshine": "I am a square, a lovely square/I have four sides, they're all the same/I have four corners, four lovely corners/I am a square, and that's my name." Have her sing this song as you draw squares together, and she is sure to remember it come time to test into kindergarten.
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The key to teaching your child about the triangle is getting him to understand that this shape can come in many different forms, but it will always have three sides and three angles. To drive home this point, draw two each of several different types of triangles: equilateral triangles, right-angled triangles, scalene triangles and isosceles triangles. Direct your child as he cuts out the shapes, making sure to discuss how they are all triangles. Then scatter them across the table or floor, and have him match the pairs together.
The hardest part about rectangles for young children is differentiating them from squares. You can practice telling the two apart at snack time. Break out a box of graham crackers, and pull a whole sheet of the graham cracker out of the box. Explain to your child that the full sheet is a rectangle because of the two long sides and two short sides. Then break the graham cracker sheet. Show her that you now have two squares. Finally, break each half into the final rectangle. With the next graham cracker sheet, have her identify each shape as you break it apart.