Shape Scavenger Hunt Around the House

Paper and pencil for the checklist

A clipboard or hardcover book to write on while walking around

A timer (phone works great)

Crayons or colored pencils for sketching finds

Make the checklist together. Draw each shape at the left side of the paper and write its name: circle, square, rectangle, triangle, diamond, oval.

Review the shapes. Point out one example of each around the room so your child knows what to look for.

Start the timer — 15 minutes. Your child roams the house (or yard) searching for objects that match each shape.

Every time they find one, they add a tally mark and do a quick sketch of the object next to the shape on the checklist.

When time is up, sit down and compare results. Count the tallies. Which shape won? Which was sneaky-hard to find?

For a second round, go outside. Shapes in nature look different from shapes in a house — a manhole cover is a circle, a stop sign is an octagon, tree trunks are cylinders.

Bonus challenge: find one object that combines two shapes, like a window (rectangle) with an arched top (half-circle).

Tape the finished checklist on the fridge. Over the next few days, keep adding when someone spots a new shape match.

If your child gets stuck on triangles or diamonds, give hints about where to look: roof lines, kite shapes, napkins folded in half diagonally.

Let them color-code: circles in blue, squares in red, and so on. This adds a creative layer and makes the checklist more fun to review.

For older kids (7-8), add advanced shapes: pentagon, hexagon, octagon. A soccer ball has hexagons and pentagons — great real-world example.

Encourage your child to describe where they found each shape and why it matches. This builds geometry vocabulary naturally.

Turn it into a friendly competition between siblings or parent vs. child. Most unique finds wins a small prize like choosing the bedtime story.