Begin to teach shape and color identification as early as possible in young students' lives. This should be integrated into daily activities and conversations by talking about different colors and shapes of objects that are noticed and seen.
Concentrate on the basic shapes, including the circle, oval, rectangle, square, triangle and diamond. Draw the shapes out on paper, on a chalkboard, with sidewalk chalk outside, in the sand, and any other places that would be appropriate. Do not connect any labels or written words at this point, the focus should be only on saying the names and identifying the shapes.
Introduce the basic colors as a separate concept from the shapes. The basic colors to focus on are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, black, gray, and white. Talk about the colors, find objects that show the different colors, and encourage children to identify the colors as they see them. Reinforce the colors by doing this every day.
Begin to combine the colors and the shapes together by making drawings of different shapes that are different colors. As children progress in their ability to identify both the shapes and the colors they will be able to identify the shapes and the colors together. For example, draw a red circle, a blue square, a purple triangle, and a yellow rectangle and talk about both the shapes and the colors.
Draw outlines of the shapes and ask the children to color each shape a specific color.
Visit songsforteaching.com (see resources) for a fun way to teach shapes and colors to young children. There are links to various teaching songs that are enjoyable to sing and will help children learn about shapes and colors in a different way.