Teaching Tots- Shapes: A File Folder Game

I had a few file folder games that I used in therapy with my preschoolers, and I decided that since they weren't going to be used over the summer, that I would bring them home for Gretchen to play with. She loves them, and it gives mommy a few minutes to unload the dishwasher, or put in a load of laundry!

A skill that develops between 2-3 years of age is matching. Preschoolers need to learn how to match objects that look the same. In this file folder game, she is matching like shapes. Which, actually serves as double duty, because she is learning the names of shapes. Typically, children can identify (point to) shapes before they can say the name of the shape- so you can work on this skill as well. This file folder game has the following shapes: circle, square, triangle, rectangle (which are typically the first shapes learned), oval, diamond, octagon, and pentagon (which are more difficult to learn).

I was suprised that Gretchen could do this easily by herself. We haven't really worked on this skill, but after discussing how to play the game, she caught on quickly.

I'll be posting a tutorial to make your own file folder in the next few days.