Sticky Shape Wall

Working on shapes? Try this simple sticky shape wall!

Need a quick shapes activity for your toddler or preschooler? This simple shape matching activity is perfect for quick learning and some indoor fun. Math lessons don’t need to be “drill and kill” – hands on activities like this sticky shape wall are so much fun!

Sticky shape wall is a great activity for practicing 2D shape identification. This easy activity was absolutely perfect for my 3 year old. Looking for even more simple, hands on math activities? Check out the ebook I co-authored, ABCs and 123s, with more than 40 math and literacy activities!

Setting up a sticky shape wall is so easy!

Materials:
(this list contains affiliate links)

• Con-Tact paper
• Permanent marker (I like these BIG ones)
• Construction paper

I love using Con-Tact paper (we’ve used it for outside sticky walls too). To make this activity work, you first have to write your shape words on the back of the Con-Tact paper…backwards. When you peel off the backing and turn it over (so the sticky side is facing out), your letter inverse. So, they need to be written backwards! It’s a fun Parent Challenge.

Then tape the Con-Tact paper to the wall, sticky side out.

Next, I cut up a bunch of construction paper shapes. This shouldn’t take more than a few seconds and didn’t for me. I made mine in varying colors and sizes. Took about 3 minutes of cutting to make way too many.

Introduce the activity with a shapes refresher

We started this activity with a quick shapes mini lesson, focusing on simple attributes:

• Squares have four sides and four points.
• Triangles have three sides and three points.
• Circles are round. They have no sides and no points.
• Diamonds have four sides and look like a kite.

Sticky shape wall helps with sorting 2-dimensional shapes

The “meat” of this activity is actually sorting shapes and noticing that size and color do not affect whether a triangle is a triangle (for example).

My three year old loved this! He saw this as a fun activity with Con-Tact paper but I knew it was so much more!

Sticky Shape Wall has so many extensions

You can take this activity and really run with it!

• Try a color matching activity for toddlers not ready for shapes
• Play “What’s My Rule?” with the shapes on Con-Tact paper
• Use markers to add faces to the shapes

By the end, my son had added 29 shapes to our wall and we had spent some quality math time together.

Hands on shape activities like this make geometry come to life and create a lasting learning impression.

Will you try this sticky shape wall at home with your kids?