If you’re planning a lesson about shapes, this is the collection of teaching resources you need. In this Shapes EFL ESL teaching resources collection for children, you will find shapes-related materials of all kinds. There are songs, books, flashcards, worksheets, ideas for games and activities and even complete lesson plans. So whatever the age or level of English of the kids in your class, there is something here for you. For preschool and elementary ages, I’ve found some very simple shapes teaching materials. For teenagers and older students, I’ve found some slightly more complicated activities. These will really get them using English in a practical way. I hope you find it useful. If you’ve found any useful resources, let me know! Alternatively, if you create them yourself and have something a bit different from those included here, get in touch!
EFL ESL songs about shapes
- Shapes Song by The Singing Walrus – a good introduction for shapes for all ages. Where can the kids find shapes in the classroom? And what everyday objects can they make with different shapes.
- Dancing Shapes by Pinkfong – a fun song to get the children up and moving around. A different movement for each shape makes them easy to remember and you can use lots of TPR.
- The Shape Song #1 by Super Simple Songs – Along with Shape Song #2, a good way to drill different shapes vocabulary.
- Make a Circle by Maple Leaf Learning – Shapes and parts of the body, a fun song for little kids.
- The Shapes Song by KidsTV123 – Where can you see shapes outside? You could use this as an introduction to a kind of scavenger hunt looking for different shapes.
- Shape Up! by Jack Hartmann – Can you make different shapes with your body? One for the older kids to get them moving and thinking about how to make shapes.
Shapes flashcards
- Shapes Flashcards by Games4esl – Useful sets of both large and small flashcards to download and print for free. There are also shapes themed board games to play in class
- Shapes flashcards by The British Council – Simple flashcards to color in and write the name on
- 3-Dimensional Shapes Flash Cards by Mr P – For older kids, cards with 3D shapes and their names.
EFL ESL shapes worksheets
- Shapes worksheets by Flying into Learning – three free worksheets which would be suitable for elementary/primary classes learning about shapes. There is a complete unit to buy if you really want to go into depth.
- Identifying 2D Shapes by K5 Learning – Lots of different free worksheets to print and practice recognizing shapes
- Shapes worksheets by Education.com – You’ll need to create an account to download these worksheets. There are lots of different types of exercises and worksheets to do with your class.
EFL ESL shapes games and activities
- Making shapes with salt play dough by GoogooEnglish – a fun activity for little kids to try and make shapes. You could also do something similar with older kids. Practice the names of 3D shapes and build structures from different shapes.
- Shapes Games by The Magic Crayons – Lots of tried and tested games to play in class.
- Go on a Shape Hunt by Playdough to Plato – Something to do if you can get outside with the kids. Go for a walk around the neighborhood and see what shapes you can find.
- Escape the Volcano Shape Game by Toddler Approved– a really fun game to play in class and practice shapes
- Learn some Shape poems by Miss Kindergarten – Something to do with older kids. After learning these, they could then write and illustrate their own shape poems or stories.
EFL ESL shapes lesson plans
As well as these Shapes EFL ESL teaching resources, I also have some complete lesson plans for you. Some of them are here on GoogooEnglish along with all my other lesson plans. Some of them are from other web sites.
- Circus Shapes by GoogooEnglish – Learn about different shapes at the Circus with preschool aged children. Play lots of fun games and make a colorful circus clown.
- Three Little Pigs by GoogooEnglish – A fun lesson for preschool aged children to learn about shapes and house parts vocabulary. Using the story of the Three Little Pigs, the kids learn about houses. Then make a shape collage of a house.
- Shapes Lesson Plan by ESL Kids Stuff – A general lesson plan to learn shapes. Play games and sing a fun Mr Shape Head song.
- How to Teach Shapes by Busy Teacher – An introduction to shapes with a fun Monsters drawing activity.
Books for children about shapes
You might want to read a story about shapes as part of your class. There are lots of books where shapes are important to the story but these are my favorites.
- Color Zoo by Lois Ehlert – This is such a lovely book. There are lots of colors and different shapes to spot with the kids in your class. There is a nice reading of it here that you could use in class.
- Big Box of Shapes by Willy Blevins, illustrated by Elliot Kreloff – What could you do with a big box of shapes? You could do an activity based on this book in class if you cut out lots of shapes and put them in a box. Find a reading of the book here.
- Walter’s Wonderful Web by Tim Hopgood – I love the pictures in this book. Why don’t you try and make web shapes with wool in your class just like the very cute spider Walter. Find a reading of the book here.
- Shapes That Roll by Karen Nagel, illustrated by Steve Wilson – One for the older kids or those with a slightly higher of English. This book looks at lots of different shapes and their properties so there is lots of useful vocabulary here as well as lots of color and pictures. Find a reading of the book here.
- Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh – A fun story about some mice hiding from a cat in some shapes. What do they make with the shapes? Find a reading of the story here.
Shapes are everywhere!
And there we have it, everything you need to teach a lesson about shapes to your class. I hope you’ve enjoyed these Shapes EFL ESL teaching resources. Don’t forget, if you have any other ideas that you think would be useful to add, leave a comment or send me a message. If you’ve enjoyed this, have a look at some of my other teaching ideas here on GoogooEnglish. To stay up to date with new posts and new collections of teaching resources, you can sign up for email updates by filling in the form below. Otherwise, go over to the GoogooEnglish Facebook page and follow me there.