Toddlers and preschoolers love building with blocks. Parents or teachers can ask their kids to sort the different shapes available in a kit, setting aside the rectangular ones. Once the children gathered all the rectangles, they can start building a structure, pretending to be bricklayers. For older children, a game of Jenga, wherein players work to remove rectangular blocks from a tower and replace them on top, is more challenging and age-appropriate.
A common preschool activity involves spotting rectangles in the room. This can be done in several ways. The teacher can ask the kids to look around and point out which everyday things have rectangles in them (e.g., a door, an eraser, a book). Another variation, which is a lot like a game of treasure hunt, is to hide rectangles all over the room. The teacher instructs the kids to look for them and then collect them for counting later. The one with the highest number of rectangles is the winner.
Most kids know how to play hopscotch. The teacher can come up with a version of the game with a rectangle twist to it. Instead of the regular maze, the teacher can make something that has more rectangles in it. It can even start with the children looking for rectangular objects to serve as markers. Working together, teachers and kids can even come up with a chant about rectangles to be recited while hopping down the maze.
For kids who are learning beginner geometry, games involving finding the area and perimeter of various rectangles are helpful. To make it fun, turn the activity into a race. Set up several stages with corresponding rectangle area or perimeter problems for the participants to work on. The correct answer allows a player to move forward. Whoever solves all the problems first wins the game.