During the first week of preschool, I set up activities for quick {yet still fun} assessments to see what skills my preschoolers already knew at the beginning of the school year. Sorting by category, size, and color is taught and used throughout the school year with 3 year-olds. Our Shape Sort Sticky Wall introduced sorting by shape and tied in shape recognition too! I am a huge fan of sticky walls and learning on vertical surfaces with preschoolers.
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Vertical surface learning promotes the correct use of fine motor skills, helps strengthen core body muscles and posture, and gives opportunities for midline crossing which can help establish hand dominance in young learners.
Shape Sort Sticky Wall
The supplies are simple and are items that we use a lot at home and in preschool!
- contact paper
- painters tape
- colorful craft foam
- permanent marker
The size of your sticky wall will depend on the area you have available. The sticky wall in my classroom was set up under one of my large display bulletin boards. I rolled out the contact paper (with the paper on the back still intact) on a table. It instantly wants to roll back up, so I placed books on both ends of the contact paper so it would stay flat. I drew shapes on the clear side of the contact paper (not the paper backing) with a permanent marker.
Now for the tricky part! Because I was trying to cover a larger area for multiple children to play together at, it was easier for 2 people to take the paper backing off of the contact paper. After the paper backing is off, carefully place the contact paper on the wall with the sticky side out. I added painters tape as my border to hold the contact paper up without worrying about the paint on the walls coming off!
I cut small shapes out of craft foam. We use craft foam a lot (check out these ideas)! When using the craft foam shapes on the sticky wall, they can be placed on the sticky contact paper and then taken off again and again. They become reusable stickers!
My preschoolers sorted the foam shapes on to the sticky wall. Most mastered the skill quickly and would help those who were just sticking the shapes up in random fashion. The wall was used all morning. It was just as fun for the preschoolers to take the shapes down off the wall when they ran out of foam shapes as it was to sort and stick the shapes up there!
At the end of the preschool day, I took the paper backing that we took off of the contact paper to use as a cover for the sticky wall. This way, the wall will stay sticky for weeks if needed, and it won’t be a dust catcher over the weekend!
Learning about shapes can be so in preschool! Check out our printable Smiley Shape Clip Cards for more shape learning practice!
Ooooh, I love this! I am going to do this with my daughter. Thanks for sharing on #ToddlerFunFriday!