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Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Shapes theme for toddlers: a week of activities

A shapes theme lesson plan for toddlers: what a day looks like, then the week's circle time (two or three minutes, on laps), books, craft, song, snack, letter and outside time, each with what changes at this age.

Plan this week for toddlersThe whole shapes week

A day of the shapes theme with toddlers

  1. Arrival and free play on the floor.
  2. Sing “Hot Cross Buns” with actions; repeat it while you change and feed.
  3. Hold and pass something real for the week (circle), and say its name.
  4. Snack: a toddler-safe version of kiwi turtles (check the recipe's lines for under-4s).
  5. Outside: a short walk looking for square.
  6. Read Ben and the Blocks on laps, pointing and naming.
  7. Nap, then the song once more at pick-up.

Shapes circle time

  1. Hello song: sing hello to each child by name.
  2. Look out of the window together: sun, rain or clouds?
  3. Show the theme: hold up something real and name it.
  4. Sing: Hot Cross Buns.
  5. Read: Ben and the Blocks (level 3).

Infants and toddlers: two or three minutes, on laps.

Shapes theme books

  • Ben and the Blocks (level 3, free on peabody.kids): Building with blocks on a rainy day: squares and rectangles everywhere.
  • Moss and the Box (level 3, free on peabody.kids): A cat and a box, for corners and sides.
  • Man, Pan, Map (level 0, free on peabody.kids): A round pan and a flat map, said in a pattern.

Infants and toddlers: one book, read every day; point and name.

Shapes craft: Shape picture

You need (4): paper shapes cut by a grown-up, card, glue stick, crayons.

  1. Pick a circle, a square and a triangle.
  2. Glue them down as a house, a face or a car.
  3. Name each shape you used.

With a grown-up. No heat, nothing hot.

Infants and toddlers: let them touch and hold the materials while you make it; nothing small enough to swallow.

Shapes song: Hot Cross Buns

The words

Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns! One a penny, two a penny, Hot cross buns!

Traditional; public domain. From Top 52 nursery rhymes with lyrics.

Shapes snack

Kiwi Turtles from the Peabody Kitchen: picture steps, allergy swaps and safety lines on the recipe.

Letter S activities

SsS is for square. Print the two pages (a trace page and a color page).

Infants and toddlers: skip the trace page; show the picture page and say the word.

Outside activity: Shape stops

Chalk a big circle, square and triangle on the ground. Call a shape; everyone runs to it.

Shapes theme for 2 year oldsShapes theme for 3 and 4 year oldsShapes theme, all ages

Checked 2026-10-30