The sticks are getting a serious amount of use at the moment. Last week I used them for an activity in a P5-7 class to reinforce the language of shape. This is what happened:

The children had to get into groups of 4 and take 12 large and 12 small sticks. The challenge was to make a shape or picture that contained the most shapes possible.

Some groups decided that a picture would work best. In the photo below if you turn your head, you’ll see a tractor with a trailer…

Another group opted to make a rocket. I had to take the photos at odd angles, owing to the sunlight…

One child needed to work on his own. He used a few sticks donated from the rocket group and another group and was happy to experiment with different geometric shapes on his own…

The geometric shapes seemed to work in terms of looking at shapes within shapes…

This initially took some practice, but the group that created the shape below had lots of discussions about the number of trapeziums within their shape…

The challenge didn’t end here. On a wall I had put some suggested letters and symbols. Using chalk, the groups had to identify through colours and the codes, the different attributes. This was a great way to reinforce these concepts.

The boy with his own shape, made a right angle detector to check the angles…

What interested me was that the children did not seem perturbed by the odd curve and knobble in the sticks.

The chalk marks left an interesting reminder of the activity once the sticks had been tidied away.

If I was doing this activity again, I’d use counters such as multi-link cubes or natural materials such as shells instead of chalk to highlight the angles, etc. Many playgrounds eat up chalk and so it’s not economical. What variations would you make to this activity?

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