Shapes and colours: easy games around the house

Red, blue, circle, square. These are some of the first "school words" children learn, and you can teach them without flashcards or worksheets. Your home already has everything you need.

A note on timing

Children learn colours and shapes at different ages, often between 2 and 4, and not always in a neat order. Some mix up colour names for a long time. That is common. If your child seems not to see colours as others do, or you have any concern about vision, ask your paediatrician about an eye check.

Colour games

Colour hunt. "Can you find something red?" Look at clothes, vegetables and cushions. Say the name each time.

Colour of the day. Choose a colour in the morning, such as yellow. Notice yellow things all day: haldi, banana, a taxi, a flower. Wear it if you like.

Sort it. Sort socks, bottle caps (supervised, older than 3), toy cars or crayons into colour groups, or put coloured clothes pegs onto matching cards.

Colour mixing. With paint or coloured water, mix two colours and watch the change. Use washable paint, supervise, and keep it away from mouths.

Rangoli and festival colours. Make a rangoli with coloured flour or flower petals. See festivals as learning time.

Fruit and vegetable rainbow. At the sabzi market, find something red, green, orange and purple. Talk about what you buy and what you eat.

Shape games

Shape hunt. The roti is a circle. The window is a rectangle. The chapati box is a square. Find shapes in the kitchen, the balcony, the street.

Shape in the air and on paper. Draw big shapes with a finger, then with a crayon. Count the corners and sides: "A triangle has three corners."

Feely bag. Put a ball, a block and a small box into a cloth bag. Your child feels and guesses.

Build with blocks, boxes and steel katoris. Stack, line up and notice which shapes roll and which stay.

Cut-out shapes. Cut shapes from card or old greeting cards, and make a picture: a house from a square and a triangle.

Cooking shapes. Cut a sandwich into triangles, or roll small round balls of dough. Eat the shapes. See everyday maths in the kitchen.

Tape shapes on the floor. Walk along the lines, jump into a circle, hop out of a square.

Words to use

Use the same simple words often: big, small, long, short, round, flat, straight, curved, corner. Ask questions: "Is it big or small?" "What colour is it?"

Use the names in your home language too: gol, chaukor, tikon, laal, neela, peela, hara.

Tips

• Play for a few minutes, then stop.
• Don't test. Say "That's yellow!" instead of "What colour is that?" at first.
• Name it when your child gets it wrong, gently, and move on.
• Let your child lead.

For more ideas see 25 easy indoor activities for toddlers and preschoolers and rainy day activities.

How Child Runway helps

Child Runway's 2 to 5 minute story lessons each come with a song and a game, where the child answers, moves and sings along. After every lesson there is something to try at home, such as a colour hunt in the kitchen. There are no ads and no tracking of children, and it works offline.