My Fun Shapes

Explore

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Playing with My Fun Shapes involves exploring different ways to combine, stack and play with options for balancing the blocks and Tibbar shapes.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Some of the included disks contain ideas and recommendations for how parents can encourage and support their child's nourishing play like stacking, comparing, matching and balancing.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
My Fun Shapes is a great developmental playset that supports fine motor, comparing, matching and geometry skill development for Pre-K children.

Educators can easily incorporate My Fun Shapes into their programs where they may already but using stacking, matching or color & shape activities.

Determine

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
When stacking, players decide which shape to place next. When playing matching games, players need to determine which color or shape of block matches the image on the disk.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
It can be fun and increase engagement by taking turns with your child in stacking shapes on each other. This also gives you opportunity to show child the different ways you can orient and place a shape so that it balances well.

When children are first learning colors and shapes, say the colors and shapes while playing. Concentrate on one color at a time and one shape at a time. Show two blocks and ask, "Do you want blue or red?" (receptive language) or say, " I want a star block." (expressive language). When the child responds consistently correctly, add another color.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Whether stacking or playing various matching games, My Fun Shapes involves observational, visual spatial and association skills as they examine and decide what shapes and colors to select.

Compare

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Closely related to determining, children need to compare colors and shapes in order to decide which to select. Additionally, players need to compare how and where they can place a shape to they will balance properly when stacked.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Parents can take turns picking and stacking blocks. On their turn, hold two blocks and describe how they are different and why you are picking one over the other. Then, on the child's turn, encourage them to tell you why they picked a certain shape.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Selecting and stacking shapes helps children learn situational analysis because they need to consider and compare the consequences of playing a certain block in a certain location.

For younger players, educators may need to remind them that block can be oriented in different ways. They can ask children questions to encourage them to make comparisons, such as, "Which side of this block do you think will balance better?" or, "Look at these two shapes (hold two different shapes like a cube and cylinder). How are they different from each other?"

Verbalizing is a good technique for strengthening the child's analytical abilities and problem-solving.

Remember

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
The more children play, the more they will remember the names and colors of shapes, as well as how those shapes balance on top of others.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
No parent support is needed

Learning Implications and Educator Support
No educator support is needed.

Predict

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
As players compare different shapes to stack, they are considering which will be easier or harder to balance.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Parents can take turns picking and stacking blocks. On their turn, hold two blocks and describe how they are different and why you are picking one over the other. Then, on the child's turn, encourage them to tell you why they picked a certain shape.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Selecting and stacking shapes helps children learn situational analysis because they need to consider and compare the consequences of playing a certain block in a certain location.

For younger players, educators may need to remind them that block can be oriented in different ways. They can ask children questions to encourage them to make comparisons, such as, "Which side of this block do you think will balance better?" or, "Look at these two shapes (hold two different shapes like a cube and cylinder). How are they different from each other?"

Verbalizing is a good technique for strengthening the child's analytical abilities and problem-solving.

Plan

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
When children are making stacks of all one color or constructing an object like a tree, they are using their planning skills.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
If needed, encourage children to collect all the blocks they think they will need to complete a specific goal like stacking all the red shapes or making a tree.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Planning with My Fun Shapes involves spatial reasoning, sequencing and, possibly, color or shape recognition.

If needed, use prompts and questions to encourage children to collect all the blocks they think they will need to complete a specific goal like stacking all the red shapes or making a tree.

Experiment

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Children are very likely to experiment with combining and stacking different shapes a variety of arrangements.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
No parent support is needed.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Experimenting with My Fun Shapes is a great way for children to develop fine motor and spatial reasoning skills.

No educator support is needed.

Practice

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
The more children play, the more they will remember the names and colors of shapes, as well as how those shapes balance on top of others.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
No parent support is needed

Learning Implications and Educator Support
No educator support is needed.

Solve

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Based on the activities on the disks or invented by parents or educators, players will need to select and place blocks in order to solve the challenge activity like stacking 10 blocks.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Parents can help children by playing along with them as they do the activity disks or create their own towers of shapes. Ask questions like "Which blocks do you need to make a tree?" or "Which shape do you think I can put on top next?" or "I'm going to put my block here. Where are you going to put yours?"

Learning Implications and Educator Support
My Fun Shapes involves uses of visual spatial problem solving, balance and if/then problem solving.

As children master the fine motor skills required to play with the blocks, they learn new information constantly about what will balance versus cause stacks to fall over. This information directly effects how children strategize an approach for selecting and placing blocks.

Review

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Reviewing is not required but likely would happen if child is playing with adult.

Demonstrate

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Demonstrating is not required but likely would happen if child is playing with adult.

Cognitive

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Begin banging blocks together, making random arrangements, then lining them up. Stacking randomly comes next, then by shape. Balancing on Tibbar is more challenging.

Putting like colors together is a first step in learning colors. Pointing to a color is next, then labeling a color. Start play with just one color, then add a color as it learned.

Circle, square, and triangle come first in learning shapes. Name the shape and have the child feel the characteristics. Play with these first, then the other shapes can follow.

Communication

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Play with the blocks and name the colors and shapes. Concentrate on one color at a time and one shape at a time. Show two blocks and ask, "Do you want blue or red?" (receptive language) or say, " I want a red block?" (expressive language) When the child responds consistently correctly, add another color.

Sensorimotor

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
The blocks in My Fun Shapes are wooden and of a good size for small hands. When children have fine motor problems, start with just two blocks. Place them next to each other, before placing them on top, so the child is successful.

Social Emotional/Behavioral

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Following the child's lead and taking turns by imitating them gives the child control and minimizes behavioral problems. To modify the child's actions, say, "I'm going to put my block here. Where are you going to put yours?"

Vision

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
If the child is blind, they can feel the shapes and experiment with combining them in different ways.

Children who are color blind may not differentiate red and green, or blues and yellows, depending on the type of color blindness. Matching colors may, therefore, may too be difficult for them.

Hearing

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Hearing should not be a problem when playing the My Fun Shapes, although sign language may be needed for labeling colors and shapes.

*Data compiled from CCSSI ELA Standards, WA Science Standards, and Washington Social Studies Standards

Extra Ways to Play the Game
Play a target game with the shape disks. Child can toss the right shape block onto the same shape disc

Materials Needed
No additional materials needed.

Developmental Benefits
In addition to encouraging matching, this modification requires spatial planning, arm and hand movements, and learning how to grade movements to throw with accuracy.

Extra Ways to Play the Game
Play bowling with the circle shapes rolled toward the same color Tibbar

Materials Needed
No additional materials needed.

Developmental Benefits
This modification requires matching colors, spatial planning, arm and hand movements, and learning how to grade movements to throw with accuracy.

Extra Ways to Play the Game
See how many shapes you can put on 1 Tibbar, 2 Tibbars, etc.

Materials Needed
No additional materials needed.

Developmental Benefits
Stacking on an uneven surface is challenging and requires experimenting with different orientations of shapes.

Extra Ways to Play the Game
Give the child a marker and let them draw faces or designs

Materials Needed
Washable markers

Developmental Benefits
Drawing enables the child to practice fine motor skills while they create faces or designs.