The first part of this activity involves teaching preschoolers how to make shapes with their hands. Stand before your class of preschoolers and instruct them how to form shapes in the following order; first, make a circle with your hands by curving your fingers, and then, make a triangle with the thumb and forefinger of one hand and the forefinger of the other hand. Lastly, make a square or diamond with the thumb and forefinger of both hands. Young children can easily imitate and remember these simple behaviors to learn shapes.
The second part of the lesson is drawing shapes. Give each child a sheet of plain, white paper and crayons and instruct them to draw simple shapes, such as circles, squares, triangles, rectangles and diamonds. Allow them to draw the shapes repeatedly. They can even create figures, such as animals and buildings, using simple shapes. If desired, you can hand out stencils so that the students can trace shapes if they have problems drawing them.
The third part of the shapes activity is a simple game of identifying shapes. Have the children gather in the middle of the room, and then give them instructions to find at least one item of a particular shape. For example, you can tell them, "Find something in this room that is shaped like a circle." The children may then point to the round clock on the wall or the top of the trashcan.
The final part of the lesson on shapes is a shapes party. This event will allow you to reward the children, while continuing the learning process. Give them snacks that have a unique shape, such as triangular tortilla chips, rectangular juice boxes and round or diamond-shaped cookies. Play children's songs that mention specific shapes and provide games that teach shape recognition skills.