This polar animal shape challenge card set invites children to build the shape featured on each card. The shapes can be built with any materials you have on hand. Below you will find a list of suggested building supplies.
What Animals and Shapes are Displayed on the Polar Shape Challenge Cards?
- An arctic hare is a diamond.
- The moose is a square.
- A musk ox is a rectangle.
- An arctic puffin is a pentagon.
- The orca is a parallagram.
- A snow leopard is an octagon.
- The polar bear is a circle. (This shape will be hard to build. Building something close to a circle would be fine.)
- An arctic wolf is a triangle.
- The walrus is a heart. (The rounded part of the heart may be tricky. It is okay if they are more pointed than rounded.)
- A reindeer is a hexagon.
- The penguin is a trapezoid.
- An arctic fox is a star.
Getting Ready to Explore the Polar Shape Challenge Cards
Gathering the Building Supplies
The suggested items are things that you probably have already. Others will be purchased really cheaply at a dollar or big box store.
- Coffee Stirrers
- Craft Sticks
- Buttons
- LEGO
- Unsharpened Pencils
- Toothpicks with Points Removed
- Sections of a Straw
Downloading the Cards
The cards are in a PDF format. You will need a PDF reader like Acrobat Reader to open them.
Laminating the Polar Shape Challenge Cards
You can have your children work on the cards uncovered if you like. However, if you laminate the mats you can use them over and over again. Below you will find links for a laminator I recommend. There are also links for laminator pouches and a laminator.
The links below are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. My Amazon Picks
Scotch Brand PRO Thermal Laminator, Never Jam…$55.99$128.93 (11009)
Scotch Thermal Laminating Pouches, 200- Count-…$27.99$42.99 (22799)
Exploring the Polar Shape Challenge Cards
The challenge cards can be explored in a number of ways. The ideas below are just that ideas. You may come up with new and different ways to use them.
Hint:
Before you have your children start exploring the challenge cards, you will want to go over the shapes and animals displayed on the cards. After that, you may want to talk about the number of sides and edges each shape has.
Maker’s Space or Center
The cards can be placed along with building materials for children to explore. Children can work on building the shapes at any size or height they want to.
Small Group Work
It is fun to see how different children complete the same challenge. You can select the material and card you want them to explore. Then you can have them each build what they think the shape should look like. While some children may want to make their shape just like the neighbors, others will strike out on their own. What fun it will be to have them discuss why they built their shape the way they did!
More Building Activities
