Have you ever watched your child put
together a puzzle? A lot of thought goes into figuring out which
piece goes where. First she has to consider the shape and size of
each piece to see if it will fit into a particular space. If the
shape looks right, then she has to figure out which way it goes in.
She might have to rotate it or flip it so it aligns properly. As your
child does the puzzle, she is using spatial skills. Manipulating 3-D
objects such as pieces of pasta is another way to practice these
Helping your child recognize shapes
and how they relate to one another by flipping and rotating them is
key to developing the spatial reasoning skills necessary for doing
geometry later on. Your child uses these skills everyday—for
example, when she determines if a shoe goes on the left or right foot
and then positions it so it goes on correctly.
Geometry and spatial skills
3-6 year olds
Follow the Pasta Path
Take It Further
Open up a box of rigatoni pasta.
Talk with your child about the shapes she sees in the pasta. Notice
how some pieces are straight, while other pieces curve to the right
or to the left. Show your child how she can make a path with the
pasta pieces by lining them up piece-by-piece. She can change the
direction of the path by choosing pieces that curve left or right.
How to Do It:
- Oh dear! The
Cat has become separated from his friends Thing One and Thing Two.
Ask your child to help them get back together.
- Print out the
picture of the Cat separated from Thing One and Thing Two. Use a
marker or crayon to draw a wavy line that connects them. The wavy
line should be done in a way that your child can easily follow it
with pieces of pasta.
- Give your child
a handful of dried rigatoni pasta and ask her to line the pieces up
end-to-end so that they follow the curvy path you drew. Before she
puts down each piece, tell her to look carefully at the path and
decide if she needs a straight piece, a piece that curves right, or
a piece that curves left.
- When she
finishes building the pasta path, praise her and say, “Great
job! Now the Cat can get back together with Thing One and Thing
pasta face. Create a circle out of the pasta pieces, and then use
other pieces for the eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. Ask your child if
her pasta person is happy or sad.
Go, Do. Go! by P. D. Eastman
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen; illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins
Position vocabulary: around, beneath, above, below, beside, in front of, behind, next to, on top of, under, over
Play the Meerkat Jubilee game on PBS KIDS