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You are here: Home / Shapes / Learning about Squares

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Learning about Squares

October 15, 2013 by Sheryl Cooper

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While learning about squares with our preschoolers, we decided to read the book The Perfect Square, by Michael Hall. I love connecting activities to picture books, such as when we sorted shapes by color after reading The Shape of Things. It brings the book to life and our preschoolers are more connected to it. We make sure to display this book in the classroom where they can revisit it as often as desired.

Learning About Squares

 

 

We focus on one shape each month, and October is the square. My co-teacher had an idea to stamp squares, sort of like we did when we stamped with square blocks. In the book The Perfect Square, the square loses it’s shape when different things happen to it. We wanted to do something that would change the shape of the square. That’s when we stumbled on painting with Kleenex boxes over at Teach Preschool.

Learning About Squares

What you will need for this activity:

Empty square tissue boxes

Tempera paint

Paper

Tins for the paint

If you want to connect it to the book, as we did, you will want to get a copy of The Perfect Square, by Michael Hall. (Click on the book below for an affiliate link.)

 

 

Learning About Squares

 

Setting up this activity:

Place paint into some sort of shallow container. Because we wanted this to also be a paint mixing activity, we added several colors in the same container. Place the tissue box in the container of paint and have paper ready.

Start stamping paint onto the paper!

 

Learning About Squares

 

What started as a perfect square did not stay a perfect square.

 

Learning About Squares

 

The more paint that was used, the more the box slid around the paper. Squares turned into wiggly lines, circles, zig zags.

 

Learning About Squares
We ended the activity not seeing any perfect squares, but beautifully blended colors of paint.
Learning About Squares

 

Learning About Squares

 

 

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Art, Literacy, preschool, Preschool Literacy, Shapes, Toddler Literacy, Toddlers Tagged With: art, literacy, preschool, shapes

About Sheryl Cooper

Sheryl Cooper is the founder of Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds, a website full of activities for toddlers and preschoolers. She has been teaching this age group for over 20 years and loves to share her passion with teachers, parents, grandparents, and anyone with young children in their lives.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sarah @ How Wee Learn

    October 15, 2013 at 4:43 pm

    Such a fantastic idea! I love having my wee ones paint with a variety of tools – this one is so creative! I would have never thought about painting with a tissue box!

  2. Deborah

    October 16, 2013 at 4:06 am

    Such a GREAT idea to combine this process with that book! Awesome, awesome…

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