When Should Toddlers Know Shapes?

By the age of 2 years old it can be a great time to help support toddlers in learning shapes and colours. Here we answer your questions, including ‘ When should toddlers know shapes ?’.

When Should Toddlers Know Shapes

So when should toddlers know shapes ? Naming shapes can take longer to develop than learning colours. Many children are ready to begin learning about shapes and colours when they are 18 months old, although each child is different. Some may be ready a little sooner and some may be ready to learn when they are closer to 2 years old, and this can be the best time to start teaching shapes and colours.

At this young age, they may understand the idea of shapes but they won’t fully grasp the concept of shapes until older. By the time your child is three or four, they will be able to identify 20 basic shapes names such as circles, triangles, and squares. More complex shapes will come later on. 

• A great time to start teaching shapes to young children is around 2 years of age. You can teach in many different ways from problem-solving with shape toys to spotting shapes when out in the real world like the octagonal stop signs, and triangle give way signs. There are so many easy ways to help your toddler learn with some great interactive toys for toddlers.
  
• Always start with the basic toddler shapes first like square, rectangle, circle, and triangle, and then move on to new and advanced shapes like an oval, or heart, but it’s a good idea not to overwhelm them with too many too soon.
  
• The majority of shapes can be taught by the age of three or four but don’t worry if you are ahead or behind with the study of shapes, all children have different time frames for learning at this early age of child development.
  
• By teaching children shapes you are also helping spatial relations, cognitive skills, cognitive development, and language skills in learning new words.

Read more articles on learning through play.

How do I teach my 2 year old shapes?

Now you know about when should toddlers know shapes , how do you help teach them? Here are some of our favourite ways in hands-on activities to help your child learn some new skills through simple activities helping you teach various shapes to them. These simple activities can be highly effective and some of the easiest ways and the best ways in helping children with the names of shapes. Hopefully, they will inspire you to have some creative ideas and lots of fun activities at home to help them learn the names of the shapes.

Tracing & Colouring

This is a great way to help your toddler learn shape names and primary colours as well as help their fine motor skills and pattern recognition. There are lots of tracing toys to help your child with shape learning. But simply printing out some basic shapes and harder shapes can be a simple and effective way to help them learn.

Shape Sorter

While you may remember this classic toy from when you were a child, there is a reason they are still around and that’s because they are an effective way to let your child hold and learn shape recognition, it also works on problem-solving skills and these are important skills. Starting with only a few of the shapes may help your toddler at first to them becoming overwhelmed. They add a few more as they become more confident. Shape sorters are recommended from 15 to 18 months.

Drawing outside with chalk

In the summer months, it can be a great way to entertain your child and one of the simplest ways to draw shapes and learn some fun shapes and colours. Simply buy some chalk in bright colours and work together drawing new shapes on the pavement or sidewalk helping your child’s development in their knowledge of shapes.

Play-Doh

Using play-doh can be a great way to learn a variety of shapes and great sensory activities. Rolling out and cutting the play-doh into shapes.

Shape scavenger hunt

This is a fun and simple activity to play around the house or outside with young kids. Search for objects that match the four common shapes in everyday life, circle, square, triangle, and .rectangle. You can also combine colours when they start to get more confident, for example, red apples for a shape and colour. See who can find them first, older kids can also get involved in helping them with this fun game.

When Do Toddlers Learn Colours?

We covered when do toddlers learn shapes earlier but what about colours? Our world is filled with many textures, shapes, patterns, and colours. this can be overwhelming for children and can cause overstimulation while a child tries to focus on it all. Colour identification is an essential skill that we rely on day to day, especially as children.

Teaching your toddler about colours, and the world of an endless variety of colours will open up to them. Just point out an object to your toddler and ask them to name the colour. They will point out the colour and try to name it. Toddlers are born with a natural preference towards black and white, but they start to differentiate between other colours, too, such as reds and greens as they grow older.

Should A 2-Year-Old Know Colours?

2 years olds can understand the concept of colour and may begin to recognise and learn about different colours as early as 18 months.  So how to teach shapes and colours to a toddler is probably your next question

How To Teach Shapes And Colours To Toddlers

Practicing different shapes and colours often with your child can build a strong foundation by pointing out objects’ colours in the world around the, like the blue sky or green grass. Shape and colour recognition are an important part of developing your child’s critical thinking skills and help to give them language and describe the world around them.

Learning Colours With Flash Cards

Starting with a colour at a time, use flashcards to show your child colour and have them say the name with you. As your child begins to learn the names of more colours, be sure to go back and review the ones they have already mastered. Play colour games by showing your child a colour flashcard and asking them to find an object around them that is the same colour. A great addition to our when should toddlers know shapes idea list.

Colour Sorting

Young children love to sort things. You can buy or put together a collection of colourful markers and have your child sort them into piles by colour Great for hand-eye coordination.

Colouring

Colouring is a great tool to help build a basic understanding of various colours and can be done at the dining room table or out in the real world. Using paints to

Exercise

Kids love running about so why not find 4 items of the primary colours and place them around the living room or garden, giving them a solid foundation and a fun way to learn their colours. When you call out the colour you all have to run to the right item when they get more confident why not introduce various colours. Great fun for everyone involved and older kids and friends can get involved for our when should toddlers know shapes support guide.

Some great toys to help you teach your toddler shapes and colours:

Check out some more of our great toddler and pre-schooler educational toys for shapes and colours in our when should toddlers know shapes toy guide: