Geometry: manipulative resources

Another great idea to do with children when teaching them geometry is to use manipulative resources, as it was mentioned in the previous entry. These types of resources are very helpful to take into account in the class of geometry because a lot of students need to have those figures in their hands to understand them. 


Sometimes, letting students freedom to do geometric shapes by just giving them some materials to work with without actually telling them what to do is a positive suggestion. It allows them the possibility to be more flexible and think creatively while practicing content. For example, an activity related to this is to give them materials such as strings and to ask them to draw a circle and its radius. In groups, a student could be holding the string in the centre of the circle and one of his classmates should turn around the circle with the string tightened.


Video 1 



Note. Edutopia, 2023.


Another example of a manipulative resource to use when teaching geometry is clay and toothpicks. This is very beneficial for learners to easily understand the concepts of geometry as they have these materials in their own hands. The aim of this is to let them work in a more practical way in which they have the opportunity to learn the concepts in an entertaining way. This is important and extremely positive to have direct contact with mathematical content. 


But how could we do it? Below, there is a video that we could show them in class thanks to the digital whiteboard. In it, they can watch how to do different 2D shapes with clay step by step, following the same pattern in which the only difference is the number of vertices and sides which will be increasing according to the geometric shape. Therefore, we could start by doing the triangle, then the square and the rectangle, later the pentagon, and so on. Finally, they would have to complete a review sheet that includes a drawing of the geometric shape, its name, its sides and its vertices. 


Video 2 



Note. Kids project & more, 2023.


References: 

Edutopia. (2023, June 1). Making a Math Lesson More Hands-On (Video file). Youtube.

https://youtu.be/eRytt_ddTvI?si=neh3BkR-jDMEczdu

Kids project & more. (2023, February 8). Build 2-D shapes with toothpick and play-doh clay activity, learn sides and vertices, Geometry (Video file). Youtube.

https://youtu.be/CG-B1lvlXCw?si=6zxA6nEqZt-14a-A  

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