New Products: Colour and Shape Snap

These fun Usborne Colours and Shapes Snap games consist of a pack of 48 cards with six colours or shapes to match in a fun version of every child's favourite first card game.

The large sturdy cards have rounded corners, a blob of the colour shape in the middle and the name of the colour / shape printed underneath.

These cards are a great way for young children to learn to recognise colours and shapes and to develop matching and reading skills. Suitable for children aged two and up.

Shapes

I've been reading a lot of blogs recently and last week I read this post on Because Babies Grow Up which is about a shape song - found at CanTeach Shapes and this has inspired me to write a post here all about teaching shapes.

As Amber says, basic shapes are the foundation for so many things that little ones learn. Drawing shapes is a precursor to writing as children have to master moving the pencil deliberately to create something before they can fine tune that to make letters. Shapes are also a precursor to advanced drawing - if children can see how complex figures are made up of simple shapes, then they can draw them by combining basic shapes into something complex. Recognising shapes is a precursor to literacy and numeracy as letters and numbers are just more complicated shapes.

Shape Songs (from CanTeach Shapes)

In addition to the one that Amber posted here are some songs to help teach about shapes:

Shape Song - to the tune of: "The Farmers in the Den"
A circle's like a ball, A circle's like a ball,

Round and round It never stops.

A circle's like a ball!

A square is like a box, A square is like a box,

It has four sides, They are the same.

A square is like a box!

A triangle has 3 sides, A triangle has 3 sides,

Up the mountain, Down, and back.

A triangle has 3 sides!

A rectangle has 4 sides, A rectangle has 4 sides,

Two are long, and Two are short.

A rectangle has 4 sides!

Shapes - to the tune of: "Frere Jacques"
This is a square. This is a square.

How can you tell? How can you tell?

It has four sides, All the same size.

It's a square. It's a square.

This is a circle. This is circle.

How can you tell? How can you tell?

It goes round and round, No end can be found.

It's a circle. It's a circle.

This is a triangle. This is a triangle.

How can you tell? How can you tell?

It only has three sides, That join to make three points.

It's a triangle. It's a triangle.

This is a rectangle. This is a rectangle.

How can you tell? How can you tell?

It has two short sides, And it has two long sides.

It's a rectangle. It's a rectangle.

Make A Circle - to the tune of "Pop Goes the Weasel"
Round and round on the paper I go,

What fun to go around like so,

What have I made, do you know?

I made a circle!

Make A Square - to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"
From the bottom to the top,

Straight across and then you stop,

Straight down to the bottom again,

Across and stop where you began,

If the lines are the same size,

Then a square is you surprise.

Make a Triangle - to the tune of "Three Blind Mice"
One, two, three; one, two, three

Do you see? Do you see?

Up the hill and to the top,

Down the hill and then you stop,

Straight across;

tell me what have you got?

A triangle--a triangle!

Make A Rectangle - to the tune of "The Incey Wincey Spider"
A long line at the bottom,

A long line at the top,

A short line to connect each side,

A rectangle you've got!

A short line at the bottom

A short line at the top

A long line to connect each side

A rectangle you've got!

Resources for Teaching Shapes

At Littlesheep Learning we have a collection of resources for teaching shapes. These include:

Shape Bean Bags

The shape beanie bags are a set of 8 shaped bean bags (circle, square, rectangle, triangle, star, oval, pentagon and hexagon) with the name of each shape stitched onto one side and are ideal for early shape recognition. Each bean bag measures approximately 10cm and can be stored conveniently in the drawstring cloth bag.

Shape Flashcards

The shape flashcards are part of the Littlesheep Learning Resources collection and are small sized (67mmx98mm) laminated cards are ideal for teaching shape identification. The set comprises of 12 shape cards – circle, square, triangle, rectangle, diamond, oval, star, heart, moon, semicircle, hexagon, and pentagon.

Shape Games - Dotty Dinosaurs, Insey Wincey Spider and Jack and the Beanstalk

These games all include shape identification and matching as part of their fun - a great way to teach shapes informally during play.

Press Release: Beanbag Fun to Learn Colours and Shapes

Issued Date: 24th February 2009 For Immediate Release

Beanbag Fun to Learn Colours and Shapes

Learning Colours and Shapes is an essential part of a preschoolers learning as part of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

These sets of Colour and Shape Beanie Bags are a toy that makes learning fun. Children love the bright colourful bean bags which at about ten centimetres in size are ideal for small hands to manipulate and parents love the fact that they come in a drawstring cloth bag for easy storage. Previous customers have commented on the play value, longevity and quality of these items and their ability to withstand mucky fingers!

Some ideas to help children learn shapes and colours using the beanie bags:

1. Put the bean bags in their storage bags and take turns to take one out and identify it
2. Spread the bean bags out and see who can find a specified one first
3. Match the bean bags to the same shape or colour flashcards or objects
4. Identify colours or shapes by practicing throwing and catching - throw me the red one or catch the square one

Toys and resources to help teach colours, shapes, letters and numbers are available at Littlesheep Learning http://www.littlesheep-learning.co.uk/.

## Ends ## 24th February 2009

Editor's notes
1. For more details, contact Elaine Lambe: elaine@littlesheep-learning.co.uk

2. Elaine’s website is: http://www.littlesheep-learning.co.uk/

3. Media information is available at: http://www.littlesheep-learning.co.uk/media_information.php

4. Photographs can be provided on request

Bean Bags

We have some more new products at Littlesheep Learning we received the box late yesterday and it is very exciting unpacking them and finding that they really are even better than they look in the pictures. We are pleased to announce the arrival of colour, shape and number bean bags. We'll add some teaching ideas for these products shortly - so do add your ideas!

The colour beanie bags set of 10 coloured bean bags (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, white, grey and brown) have the name of each colour stitched onto one side and are ideal for early colour recognition. Each bean bag measures approximately 10cm and can be stored conveniently in the drawstring cloth bag.


The shape beanie bags are a set of 8 shaped bean bags (circle, square, rectangle, triangle, star, oval, pentagon and hexagon) with the name of each shape stitched onto one side and are ideal for early shape recognition. Each bean bag measures approximately 10cm and can be stored conveniently in the drawstring cloth bag.


The number beanie bags set contains 20 bean bags with the name and number stitched on either side - ideal for a wide range of counting and number games. Each bean bag measures approximately 7cm and can be stored conveniently in the drawstring cloth bag.

We hope to be adding alphabet beanie bags in the future so do keep checking back for updates.