Every child is a wonderful creation that parents have the privilege of caring for and loving. It is not easy being a parent, but it sure is quite rewarding, especially when you see your child slowly transitioning to a kid able to move around and explore the world around it. As your child grows up, their ability for cognition and other mental capacities also starts to improve. This means that they are now becoming more and more adept at learning new things. As a parent, you might want to start as early as you can to introduce things and slowly educate your child, and what better way to start it than learning how to sort shapes.
Toddlers being taught how to sort shapes is not a new practice, nor is it a complicated one to start with your child. Sometimes this practice could even be the identifier for intelligence because it tests many areas in your child’s brain development and how your child reacts to the environment it is assigned to. With that said, this activity, although primarily being used to help your child navigate into the physical world slowly, it is also integral for your child’s growth and development.
How to Teach Your Child to Sort Shape
Teaching your child about how to sort shapes could be quite challenging, especially if they are not adept at speaking yet. However, it is not an impossible task, and the key to getting the best results would be patience and perseverance. The first method you could use to teach your child how to sort shapes is by using puzzles. Choose puzzles with colorful distinction so that it could get their attention and separate the item quickly from their perspective. Since there are only a few shapes, you could start introducing shapes to your child by pair. However, when you introduce shapes, make sure to use different looking shapes like squares and circles. This is to lessen the confusion that might happen on similar shapes such as circles and ovals. Introduce the shape and point at the shape you are referring to. This might take a while, but you must keep at it and do it with patience, and slowly your child will get a hand of it.
You could use an alternative method to slowly teach your child to sort shapes through picture books that feature shapes. This is a great method because it is more interactive. After all, you could immediately navigate your child through the shapes with pictures and slowly point out the differences and make them remember the figures and the names. Games could also be the method you use because it is enjoyable and could stick more with them because you could get their attention. You could use this in tandem with the picture book for a better effect.
Also, if you managed to get some improvements, and your child is now able to recognize some shapes, you could continue practicing with them by introducing household items and pointing out their shapes. For example, you could use an orange to practice your child to be familiar with the circle, and the same could be done with the basketball. Again, the key here is patience and perseverance.
What Is the Importance of Sorting Shapes?
Shapes are everywhere. From the basketball to the toys to the street signs and billboards you pass through. These shapes are important parts of our lives, and being adults, we went through that stage of figuring out what a circle looks like and how other objects would be like this shape. Learning shapes is not just about kids doing good at identifying the objects and their corresponding shapes. The mere activity stimulates the brain to identify and organize visual information. The brain’s organizing activity helps sort out objects to help them quickly place objects into memory by using the distinctive shapes and features like a catalog.
Besides, it also helps your child learn skills within the curriculum of reading, math, and sciences which will be encountered in the future. In other words, learning about sorting shapes is a fundamental course of teaching your child must accomplish to have a better grasp of these advanced topics and areas of learning. This could be observed as a child learn how to sort shapes by learning what a circle and a square are. They are learning how to separate the identity of the two figures creating a clear distinction.
This activity could also be applied to mathematics wherein a number 1 is a symbol for a single object, and the number two would be for two objects. Another thing about your child learning about sorting shapes is that it taps into your child’s curious mind and insightful eyes. You could create activities that help your child recognize objects around the neighborhood and the simple tools inside your home. Learning how to sort shapes is not to be removed from your child’s list of things to learn, for it may be the most important one your child must accomplish.
When Should I Be Teaching My Child This?
This is quite an important question that needs to be addressed. Generally, it is important to introduce the activity as early as possible, but for some children, teaching them at an early age of 2 or even one does not give the best result. This is because children’s attention span of those ages mentioned above is quite low and probably because they are still trying to survey the world around them and are quick to lose focus when something catches their eyes. However, there are cases of children of 2 years of age being able to comprehend and focus on the shape sorting activity. It boils down to your child’s capabilities and speed of mental growth. However, if you are asking for the most optimal time for your child to learn, it would be at the age of 3-4 where their cognitive skills are already in a much stable form, and you could get their attention and teach them little stuff. It is important to teach your child in their earlier days because even though it might seem difficult, these are the years that they are fastest in learning and absorbing knowledge like a sponge. As a parent, you should not miss out on those years.
Wrap up
Teaching your child how to sort shapes is a crucial part of their initial development years. The interaction of your child and the environment will also help improve your child’s cognitive and mental abilities, so as a parent, you should provide your child with a more cohesive and greater environment for learning.
Parents are known to be the child’s first teachers. You are the one to teach them how to speak their first words and alphabets, to walk and move actively, and to understand the interactions around them. You need to take the extra mile of ensuring that your child gets the fundamentals in check for their future to come. It is best to continue the education; however, you should not remove the fun out of learning because being a happy child also affects their growth and development. Teach your child with love and nurture them in a fun and interactive environment. This is what you need to do to bring out the best in your child. Find out more about child learning.