DIY Montessori Math: Working with Shapes

All you need for this simple exercise is a pair of child-safe scissors, a ruler, a pencil, and construction paper. Prepare the exercise by making squares out of the construction paper for your child to use.

Tell your child that the object of this project is to cut triangles. Take a piece of paper for yourself. Use the ruler and pencil and draw a line from one corner of the square to the other. Cut along the line. Show your child the two triangles. Push the triangles apart. Push them back together to form the square again.

Let your child work with his or her own square to cut the triangles. In the meantime, you can work with your triangles and cut them into more triangles.

The two of you can experiment with reforming the original square and reforming the larger triangle pieces that you have just cut.

Encourage your child to experiment with different shapes, even if they do not form triangles or squares.

This is a great group exercise.