Teacher Store Finds Part I: Geoboards

Teacher stores are a terrific place to find inexpensive, fun, educational activities. One of my favorites is Geoboards. They are plastic boards with pegs in rows or a circle, and kids use rubber bands to make shapes and designs. This activity will keep a child age 3 or up occupied for a good chunk of time; N at 2 1/2 enjoys playing with them as well, but doesn't stay engaged for quite as long.

For little ones like two-year-old N or 3-year-old G, I just put out the rubber bands and let them go to town. Just like with drawing, they randomly put down designs and then describe what they made.

Older kids like four-year-olds and up can be given challenges of making specific shapes or certain numbers of things (3 squares, 2 triangles, etc.). Or give challenges like, "Make a rocket." "Make a picture using a rectangle, square, and triangle."

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At the end, talk about what you see. Have even the youngest of children identify shapes they see, and point out shapes they might not know. Count the shapes. Talk about the colors. Make new shapes to teach your kids: parallelogram, trapezoid, etc. The possibilities are really endless with this!

If you don't live near a teacher supply store, you can order these at classroomdirect.com. A double-sided geoboard with rows on one side and a circle on the other costs $2.19.

What is your child gaining from this activity?

• shape recognition
• color recognition
• geometry concepts
• relationships between shapes
• spatial awareness
• concentration skills
• vocabulary
• communication