Activities for toddlers: Contact paper shape sorting #31daysofactivities

Keeping your toddler busy and entertained can be a challenge sometimes; which is why we are trying to entertain some of your toddlers within the 31 Days of Activities event. We have a few activities for toddlers, and here is a fabulous contact paper shape sorting activity for them all. This is provided for us by The Hadicks site – so do go along and check them out too.

As parents, we want activities that hold their interest while also providing some educational benefit. This contact paper shape sorting activity is a simple activity full of many benefits and a ton of play!

Don’t forget to sign up for our activity a day newsletter before you take a look at this too – we are sending all the fabulous activities in this event out with it, and then some more for you. Never have bored kids again, and get time to pee! 😂

What are the benefits of shape sorting activities

Shape sorting activities offer many benefits for your toddler. These include hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and developing vocabulary knowledge. Children learn best through play and this activity offers a ton of benefits through the art of play. 

Hand-Eye Coordination

Hand-eye coordination is the ability to complete an activity that uses both your hands and eyes simultaneously. Through this activity your child will practice matching the designated shape and color to the corresponding contact paper shape on the window. 

Fine Motor Skills

Fine motor skills is the use of the small muscles in your hands and fingers. Grasping shapes and sticking them on contact paper, as well as removing shapes from the contact paper, are great tasks for your child to practice their fine motor skills.

Develop Vocabulary Knowledge

Children love repetition. Completing a task multiple times helps them to begin to identify specific items or names. The shape sorting activity will allow your child to practice identifying and naming their shapes and colors. 

No Mess

Okay, so this one isn’t really a benefit for your child. A fun activity with no mess is more of a benefit for parents. The best part about this activity is that it does not leave a mess behind on your window and is easy to clean up! 

What Age is this Activity For? 

All children are different when it comes to developmental stages. In general, this activity is best for 18 months to 4 years old as they begin to learn about shapes and colors. 

Materials Needed

There are a few materials you will need to complete this project.

• 6 Pieces of Contact Paper (3 colors and 2 pieces of paper of each color)
• Construction Paper
• Scissors
• Scotch Tape
• Ruler or Tape Measure
• Pen or Marker

Instructions

We have details instructions and pictures of the activity for you here. Do check it out. Any questions, drop us a line of course as always.

Step 1

Take three pieces of construction paper (each a different color). Cut out big frames in three shapes (circle, triangle, square) from the construction paper. 

Step 2

Place each frame on the contact paper and trace around the outer edge of the frame. Cut the shapes out of the contact paper you just traced. Place to the side.  

Step 3

Take the remaining three pieces of construction paper. Cut four small corresponding shapes from each color to match the big frames you created in Step 1.

Step 4

Take or cut two sheets of contact paper. Peel off the paper from the contact paper to reveal the sticky side. On one contact paper, place the small shapes of construction paper you created in Step 5. Take the second piece of contact paper and put the sticky side down. You want the sticky sides of the two pieces of contact paper to stick together with the small construction paper shapes between them.

Step 5

Cut out the shapes from the contact paper leaving a 1/2-inch border around the contact paper.  

Step 6

Grab the contact paper large shape cutouts you created in Step 2. Place them on a flat surface (like a table). Peel off the paper to reveal the sticky part of the contact paper. Secure the construction paper frame to the contact paper. (Don’t worry about lining them up perfectly. You can always do a little trimming with scissors if the contact paper shows around any of the edges). 

Step 7

Adhere the big shape frames to a window with scotch tape. Make sure the sticky side of the contact paper is sticking out. 

Step 8

Place the small construction paper shapes in a bowl, basket, or on the floor for your child. Show your child how they can stick the shapes to the large frames.

Alternative versions

Creating smaller shape cutouts as described above is great for reuse. Since they have contact paper on both sides, the shapes easily stick to the big frames and can be removed for multiple uses.

There are many different materials you can use. Felt and tissue paper are great options as well. Tissue paper is fun for creating artwork since the outside light shines through the different colors. Keep in mind these may not be as easy to remove. 

Different games you can play

Kids love games. There are so many fun options you can do with this activity. Here are a few of our favorites.

• Ask your child to match the small cut out shapes to the corresponding big frame.
• Ask your child to match the colors of the small cut out shapes to the corresponding big frame.
• Practice counting by asking your child to count the small cut out shapes. You can create as many or as little cutout shapes as you want for this exercise.  
• Practice different concepts such as in/out or same/different. Ask your child to place the small cut out in and take it out of the corresponding big frames. You can also model concepts of the same and different by comparing two shapes.
• If your child is older, have a race. Divide the shapes between the two of you. Place them across the room from the corresponding big frames. Race to see who can pick up the small cut out shapes one-by-one and place them in the corresponding big frames the fastest.
• Create a scavenger hunt where you hide the small cut out shapes around the house for your child to find to stick on the big frame. 

Final Thoughts

Kids learn the best through play. This contact paper shape sorting activity offers a ton of educational benefits wrapped into a lot of play opportunities. There is minimal set up, no mess, and it is an activity that can be used multiple times.

We do hope you like this activity, don’t forget to check out some of the other activities for toddlers that we have on the site:

There are also some lovely learning activities for your kids that happen to be colour and rainbow activities, do take a look.

See you back soon,

Helen

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