Teach preschoolers about the word tall in reference to people. Start by putting a hand on your head and say, “I am tall.” Put a hand on the head of the preschooler. “I am taller than you.” If in a classroom setting, line the children up by size shortest to tallest. For the smallest child, add a stuffed animal in line. From tallest to shortest, have the children put a hand on their own heads, turn to the next child in line and say, “I am taller than you.” Explain that children will grow taller and some who are not as tall now, will grow taller than some of the larger children. Clarify that height doesn’t make anyone better or worse than someone else. Show pictures of children and parents, children of different heights, and adults large and small. Children choose the person who is “tall” or “tallest.” By adding in people of different widths, children learn the difference between tall, taller and wide.
Through the use of pets, especially if the pets are of very different sizes -- such as full-grown animals and babies, dogs and cats, cats and birds, dogs and fish or horses and cats -- you can teach the concept of tall. Place the different-sized animals in proximity to one another. Indicate the largest animal. If the size is great, indicate the smaller animal. After the preschooler understands the concept, ask for sentences. “The horse is taller than the puppy.” Create a worksheet with pictures of different animals from around the world. The preschooler Xs out the smaller animals and circles the tall ones.
Make a tower out of wooden or interlocking blocks. Explain, “I’m building a tall tower.” When you finish, say, “This is a tall tower.” Pile up a couple blocks. “This is not tall. This is small.” Ask the preschoolers to create their own tall towers. Download an outline of a tower, such as the Eiffel Tower, and have the children color the tower. Show pictures, explaining the tower is tall. Tell the preschoolers the tower is taller than the houses and cars around it. Have them identify items in the room they think are tall.
Talk about shapes. Cut out different types and sizes of shapes. Give them three different-sized diamond shapes and have them line them up from tall to short or the other way around. Lay out oval shapes of similar size. Place some upright and some sideways. The preschoolers point to the ones that are tall and the ones that are wide. Explain that tall is all about height and high, not wide. Ask the preschoolers to place rectangles so they stand tall. You also might ask them to put them so they are wide instead.