Let’s Have Fun Making Shapes Using Rice and Lentils

Guest Post by Michelle (www.1stearlyed.com)

Things you might need:

You can draw the circle and triangle in advance or the children can draw the shape. The insets for design are great to use.

1. Take a brush and go over the outline of the shape with glue. (They may need help with this)

2.Place the card on top of a paper plate/tray.

3.Now for the really fun part…Pour the lentils/rice on to the card

4. And then slowly lift the card and shake the loose lentils in to the plate

Little tip – Remember when demonstrating this, do it really slowly because the child will copy your actions but speeded up.

The children love this part and then they can see the shape appear like magic.

5. The same process is used to make the circle.

The lovely thing about this activity is when the shapes are dry the children can trace them using the tips of their fingers. This is a very tactile sensory experience and helps to reinforce learning the shapes.

A simpler version of the above is to cut out shapes before hand and then the child can cover the whole shape in glue.

(You can introduce more shapes over time)

• This activity is good for concentration.
• It promotes good hand eye co-ordination.
• May help improve the pincer grasp as the children like to try to pick up the pieces of rice.
• Also using the pencil and brush helps improve fine motor movement.
• Tracing the shape helps them remember it.

I really hope you and the children enjoy creating lots of shapes.

 Michelle

Creator of IstEarlyEd

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Have a look at her brilliant website: www.1stearlyed.com