Skip to main content
Official logo pendingBoogie & Bean World
Back to Pre-K preparation
Pre-K preparation · Early learning

Colors and Shapes

Colors and shapes are all around us. These activities turn walks, snacks and toy boxes into chances to notice, sort, match and create.

5–15 minutes per activity

Activities to try

10 minutesColors

Color hunt

You’ll need

  • A basket or bag
  • One colored item to start (like a red block)

How to play

  1. Show the red block and say, “Let’s find more red things!”
  2. Walk around the home and collect things that are red.
  3. Lay them out and name each one together.

Things you might say

  • “Is this the same color?”
  • “Which red thing is your favorite?”

Make it easier: Search in just one room.

Add a challenge: Hunt for two colors at once and sort them afterward.

10 minutesSorting

Laundry color sort

You’ll need

  • Clean laundry

How to play

  1. Sort clean clothes into color piles together.
  2. Name each color as you go.
  3. Count which pile is biggest.

Make it easier: Just find all the white things.

Add a challenge: Sort by light and dark shades of one color.

15 minutesShapes

Shape walk

You’ll need

  • A walk outside or around the house

How to play

  1. Look for circles (wheels, clocks), squares (windows, tiles), triangles (roofs, signs) and rectangles (doors, books).
  2. Trace each shape in the air with a finger.
  3. Take a photo or draw one shape you found when you get home.

Things you might say

  • “How many corners does it have?”
  • “Is it round or pointy?”

Make it easier: Look for circles only.

Add a challenge: Find a shape made of two shapes, like a house (square + triangle).

10 minutesShapes

Snack shapes

You’ll need

  • Soft foods such as bread, cheese slices or tortillas
  • Optional: cookie cutters

How to play

  1. Cut food into circles, squares and triangles together.
  2. Name each shape before eating it.
  3. Make a face or picture from shapes on the plate.

Make it easier: Just make circles and squares.

Add a challenge: Cut a square in half — what shapes did we make?

Safety: A grown-up does all cutting. Offer age-appropriate foods and have your child sit while eating.

10 minutesMatching

Shape matching cards

You’ll need

  • Index cards or paper
  • A marker

How to play

  1. Draw pairs of shapes on cards — two circles, two stars, two triangles.
  2. Mix them up face-up.
  3. Find matching pairs together.
  4. Try playing memory with the cards face-down.

Make it easier: Use three pairs, face-up.

Add a challenge: Add colors so pairs match by both shape and color.

15 minutesColor mixing

Mix the colors

You’ll need

  • Washable paint in red, yellow and blue
  • Paper plates
  • Paper

How to play

  1. Put small blobs of two colors on a plate.
  2. Mix them with a finger or brush. What color appears?
  3. Paint with the new color.

Things you might say

  • “What do you think will happen?”
  • “Is it lighter or darker?”

Make it easier: Mix colors in a sealed zip bag — squish without mess.

Add a challenge: Add white to make a lighter shade.

Safety: Choose non-toxic, washable paints labeled for children, and supervise.

10 minutesDrawing

Draw with shapes

You’ll need

  • Paper
  • Crayons or markers

How to play

  1. Draw a big circle together. Ask, “What could this become?”
  2. Add shapes to make it into a sun, a face or a wheel.
  3. Take turns adding one shape at a time.

Make it easier: You draw the shape; your child colors it in.

Add a challenge: Draw a robot or house using only shapes.

Sources we checked

We used these public resources to check safety, nutrition and development guidance on this page. Linking to them does not mean these organizations endorse Boogie & Bean World.