Cube & Sphere Activities for Kindergarten

Crafts

• You can give the children cardboard pieces and construction paper to make their own shapes. Have them tape the cardboard pieces together to make a cube and use construction paper to create a sphere. You can allow the children to work in pairs or groups of three to teach them teamwork. Tell them to tape the cardboard pieces together to make a cube and show them how to roll construction paper into a sphere and tape or glue it shut. For added decoration, allow the kindergartners to use markers, stickers and crayons to decorate the shapes.

Tossing Games

• To play a tossing game about shapes, you can draw cubes and spheres all over a large piece of poster board. Tape the poster board to the bottom of a cardboard box and cut out the shapes. Draw spheres on some beanbags and cubes on other beanbags. Lean the box against a wall and have the children try to toss the correct shape into the corresponding hole in the box. Alternatively, draw pictures of the shapes on buckets and have the children try to toss the shapes into the buckets.

Hunts

• Cube and sphere learning blocks are available online and at many retail stores. Hide the shapes around the classroom and have the children hunt for the blocks. Ask the children to count the number of blocks they find. The child who finds the most blocks wins the game. Alternatively, you can award small prizes to the children who find the most of each type of block. Another idea is to call out a shape, such as cube or sphere. The child who finds the correct type of block first wins the game. You can make the game more difficult by hiding other types of 3-D shapes like cylinders and pyramids.

Memory Games

• You can play a memory game with the kindergartners by printing pictures of cubes and spheres, printing two of each picture. Laminate the pictures to make them more durable. Place the pictures face down on a desk and have the children play a game of memory. One child flips over two cards. If they match, she keeps the cards and draws two more. If they do not match, it is the next player's turn. The player with the most matched shapes at the end of the game wins. Another idea is to draw different-colored cubes and spheres on a dry erase board. Have the kindergartners study the shapes and ask them to place their heads on their desks. Erase one shape and ask them to look back at the board. The first child to tell you what color and type of shape is missing wins a small prize.