Description

What our Shapes: Triangle lesson plan includes

Lesson Objectives and Overview: Shapes: Triangle teaches young learners about a very common shape. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to recognize a triangle and that it has three sides and corners. This lesson is for students in preschool.

TRICKY TRIANGLE PAINTING ACTIVITY

For this lesson, students will create artworks involving triangle shapes. In preparation for the activity, use painter’s tape to create one large triangle or several small triangles on a sturdy piece of paper or cardboard. Create one for each student. Pass out the triangle papers to students. Demonstrate how to carefully dip the sponge or paintbrush in paint and apply it to the paper. Pass out paint and sponges to students. Allow students to paint the entire paper. Once the paint is dry, students can carefully peel off the tape to reveal a triangle shape(s). As an optional book tie-in, read Think Triangles! A Lift-the-Flap Counting, Color, and Shape Book by Karen S. Robbins.

Teacher Tip: For advanced or older students, create a variety of equilateral, isosceles, and scalene triangles and let students observe the differences in them.
Optional: Count the triangles and look for the “hidden” or “tricky” triangles in each picture.

After learning all 8 shapes (square, rectangle, circle, triangle, oval, diamond, star, and heart), this unit will conclude with a culminating story activity. See Additional Resources from the
Shapes: Heart lesson plan for the story and shapes. You may also draw your own shapes for the activity.

Options and Extensions

There are several of additional options you could add to the lesson. Eat triangle-shaped snacks such as chips, watermelon slices, or pizza slices. Use sidewalk chalk to draw large triangles outside or use tape to tape triangles on the floor. Jump to each one and walk the perimeter. For a sensory experience, have students draw triangles in sand or shaving cream. Provide students with playdough and pipe cleaners and challenge them to create triangles from the materials.

Grab a bag of shape buttons and have students sort each shape. Use buttons to make triangle bracelets using pipe cleaners. Sing the “Hokey Pokey” song. Give each child a shape to hold as they sing. Replace the body parts in the song with shapes (e.g., “You put the triangle in, you take the triangle out…”). For show and tell, ask children to find objects at home that are triangles to bring to class. Share and discuss the items as a group.

As an extension to the lesson, read City Shapes by Diana Murray, Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh, and Little Triangle: All About Shapes by Moynul Hogue.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Our preschool lessons include additional resources that you can use throughout the lesson. They are provided to give you as much content as possible to complete the lesson without having to find sources on their own. For instance, if the lesson requires you to show students pictures, you can use the ones in the additional resources.

Preschool Philosophy

Our preschool curriculum is thoughtfully designed by professional teachers to nurture curiosity, build foundational skills, and prepare young learners for kindergarten and beyond. Each preschool lesson plan offers age-appropriate activities to promote early literacy, math readiness, creativity, and social-emotional growth.

At the preschool level, children are developing rapidly—socially, emotionally, physically, and academically. The goal of our lesson plans for preschool is to provide structured yet engaging learning experiences that spark imagination, encourage problem-solving, and foster a lifelong love of learning.

CURRICULUM FOCUS

Our curriculum focuses on key objectives such as:

• Building early literacy and language skills through stories, songs, and interactive activities.
• Developing number sense, shapes, colors, and patterns with hands-on lessons.
• Encouraging creativity and self-expression through art, play, and music.
• Supporting social-emotional development, cooperation, and confidence.
• Strengthening fine and gross motor skills through active learning.