Shape Hunt Around the House

Cardstock or paper

Scissors (adult use)

A marker for labeling

Cut out 3 large paper shapes: circle, square, and triangle. These are your reference cards.

Name each shape: "This is a circle. It's round like a wheel."

Start the hunt with circles. "The clock is a circle!" Point to it.

Walk through the house together. Plates, doorknobs, coins — circles are everywhere.

When your toddler finds one, hold the paper shape next to it: "It matches!"

Switch to squares. Windows, books, tiles, coasters.

Try triangles last — coat hangers, roof shapes, pizza slices.

Start with circles — they're the easiest shape to recognize because they have no corners.

Hunt for one shape at a time. Searching for all three simultaneously overwhelms young toddlers.

Let your toddler carry the reference card. Holding the shape they're looking for keeps the concept active.

Take photos of each shape you find. At the end, scroll through them together — "Look at all the circles we found!"

For older toddlers (2-3), add rectangles and ovals to expand the shape vocabulary.