We're Going On A Shape Hunt!

Shape hunts happen every year in early years and primary classrooms. They are a great way for children to notice that their world is made up of 2D and/or 3D shapes. Usually these learning experiences become a show and tell with a teacher where children match physical shapes to real objects or young learners carry checklists and tick off when they've spotted given shapes. We're Going On A Shape Hunt is a series of linked lessons which incorporates the traditional shape hunt but makes use of the camera in iPad so that children can collage all of the shapes they see and talk about afterwards.

Front cover of the We're Going on a Shape Hunt lesson guide.

More about the lessons:

This guide aims to enhance your shape hunts by embedding iPad apps in your maths teaching and learning.  Use this guide as a starting point for a week long topic on shapes. The guide makes simple suggestions of how to use apps to document your shape hunt, and how iPad can continue to build understanding of 2D shapes after your shape hunt.  Each lesson plan comes with tutorials to use the apps. The resources section provides examples of children's work, links to download apps or other materials you may need

Lesson 1: Make a Shape Journal - download the ready made Shape Journal template from this post or from the lesson guide on Apple Books. Your learners will add to their own shape journal throughout the week or you can create a class shape journal too.

A screenshot of the Shape Journal page where children add photographs of shapes they've spotted to image place holders.

Lesson 2: Shape Walk - take your iPad devices around the classroom, school site or beyond! Learners capture the shapes they see and make personalised collages on their own iPad.

Lesson 3: Shape Properties - dive deeper into shapes, what are their properties? There's some singing to do in this lesson and children record their own shape descriptions.

Lessons 4 & 5: Drawing Shapes and Making Shapes - this lesson suggests apps that your learners can use to draw and create their own shapes.

Lesson 6: Shape Stories - this lesson shows you how children can animate with shapes to tell stories or show how shapes are made.

Get the free lesson guide:

Download the free lesson guide on Apple Books here.

Get the Shape Journal here (also included as a download from the book above)