Discover the two-dimensional shapes found in three-dimensional shapes and stamp imaginative creations using found materials.
What You Need:
- Small wooden or plastic building blocks or household objects in geometric forms (Examples: A soup can or lotion bottle is a cylinder. A small gift box is a cube or rectangular prism. A domino is a rectangular prism.)
- Stamp pads or paint
- Paper
What You Do:
- Look around your house and gather objects that are different 3D shapes--cubes, cylinders, pyramids, etc. Items might include dice, dominoes, soup cans, wooden blocks, or Lego.
- Choose a 3D shape. Predict what 2D shapes you can stamp with the 3D shape. (For example, “I think that the cylinder will stamp a circle.”)
- Press the object onto the stamp pad or dip into paint poured onto a paper plate or cookie sheet.
- Press the object onto the paper and see what shape it makes.
- Continue stamping with 3D shapes to see what 2D shapes you find.
Words to Use:
- 2-Dimensional: Having length and depth.
- 3-Dimensional: Having, or seeming to have, length, depth, and height
- Cylinder: A shape, object, or container with circular ends and long straight sides.
- Cube: A solid object with six equal square sides
- Pyramid: Having four triangular sides with a square bottom.
- Rectangular Prism: A solid (3-dimensional) object which has six faces that are rectangles. It has the same cross-section along a length, which makes it a prism.
- Cone: A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base to a point called the apex or vertex.
What to Talk About:
- What shape do you think this cone will make when we stamp it? What about if we turn it on its side?
- How are three-dimensional shapes different from the two-dimensional shapes?
- How many two-dimensional shapes can you find in this three-dimensional shape?
Change It Up:
- Use the shapes to create a picture, like a square with a triangle above it for a house.
- Create patterns using shapes.
- Ask your family or friends to join in on the fun. Have them guess what 2D shape each 3D shape will stamp.
- Collaborate with family to create a work of art together. Everyone takes a turn adding a shape to the picture until you feel like it is complete.
Learning Connections:
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Critical Thinking
- Curiosity
- STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)
Curriculum Connections:
NC Standard Course of Study
- Visual Arts: K.V.3, 1.V.3, 2.V.3, 3.V.3, 4.V.3, 5.V.3
- Math: NC.K.G.2, NC.K.G.3, NC.K.G.4, NC.K.G.6, NC.1.G.2, NC.2.G.1, NC.3.G.1, NC.4.G.3