Geometric Shapes Projects for Kids

Rainbow Circle Bracelet

• Cut six 1-inch wide loops from paper towel or toilet cardboard tubes. Have the children paint one loop in each of the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. When the paint is dry, have the kids string the loops onto a large pipe cleaner. Wrap this bracelet around the child's wrist and twist the ends together. Emphasize that the loops and the bracelet itself are all circles.

Shapely Faces

• Give each child a lunch-size paper plate, which they can paint a flesh color or pink. When the paint dries, encourage the kids to add facial features using geometric shapes. Give them precut shapes or have them trace around objects to cut from construction paper. Encourage the kids to glue the shapes to make a happy face. Hearts can be used for eyes, a triangle nose, a rectangle mouth along with diamond shaped cheeks. Top the plate with curled strips of paper to resemble hair.

Musical Shapes

• Cut two sets of shapes from construction paper. Use the common geometrical shapes, also adding other shapes such as diamonds, octagons and pentagons. Set up the children's chairs in musical chair fashion. Give each child a paper shape to hold. Have the kids walk around the chairs while music plays. In the meantime, an adult can place the other set of shapes on the chairs. When the music stops, the kids need to match their shape and sit down on that chair. Redistribute the shapes and play again as long as attention permits.

A Square Collage

• Begin with a large square of construction paper. Invite the kids to cut out smaller squares from a variety of colored paper. Glue the smaller squares atop the large one until it's nearly covered. Because this type of project is a way to introduce shapes, try the same activity featuring circles, triangles and rectangles.

Making Shape Cookie Prints

• Provide cookie cutters in a variety of geometric shapes along with containers of poster paints. Place a sheet of white paper inside a cookie pan. Invite each child to make cookies by dipping the cookie cutters into paint and printing onto the sheet of paper. Encourage them to fill their pan with a variety of painted cookies.