What You Do:
- Before the activity, cut out circles and triangles of various sizes. A few of them should be about the size of an adult hand, some of them should be the size of an adult fist, some of them should be the size of a child’s fist, and some of them should be even smaller than that. Cut the shapes out of various materials – whatever you have handy.
- Tell your child that you'll be making a picture of a clown using only triangles and circles. Ask your child which shape would work best for the clown’s head. Then ask which one would work best for the clown’s hat. Have her try out the combination by putting two of the largest shapes together and see if it looks like a clown’s head with a clown’s hat. Adjust as needed.
- Help your child glue these two pieces onto a piece of construction paper or a large piece of poster board to make the clown’s head and hat.
- Now ask your child which shapes would work best as the clown’s body. His feet? His hands? There is no right answer to these questions, but help your child arrange the pieces until she's satisfied with how her choices look, and then glue them down. Keep in mind that strings of circles may work for arms or legs.
- Follow this same process to add two eyes, a nose, and a mouth to the clown. Then help your child decorate the rest of the clown’s body with smaller circles and triangles. Voila! A circus clown made from shapes!
If your child has also learned about squares or other shapes, you can include those on the picture as well.
