What's included in the Shapes in the Environment Planning resource and why is it useful?

Reception Shapes in the Environment Planning resource provides instructions for setting up practical, play-based experiences using everyday classroom objects.

The selection of activities have been carefully designed to help you meet each child where they are at, to ensure progress for every child, not just the average child. Each practical activity covers talking about 2D shapes using informal and mathematical language.

This resource includes:

Shapes in the environment Adult Guidance

• Key vocabulary

• Stem sentences

• Book recommendations

• Rhyme recommendations

Shapes in the Environment Adult-led Learning Activities

• Feely bag

• Shape hunt

• Shape café

• Shape pictures

Shapes in the Environment Continuous Provision Ideas

• Creative area – create pictures with loose parts

• Mark making – outdoor chalk shapes

• Role play area – builders workshop

• Small world area – create journeys with vehicles, blocks and figures

• Outdoor area – find shapes and sort them

• Construction area – build structures that include shapes

• Sand area – make shape patterns in sand

• Water area – make patterns/arrangement with shapes

How do our adult-led practical activities resources work?

Our planning resources bridge the gap between mathematical progression and what effective Reception practice looks like in the classroom. It turns each small step into practical, play-based experiences that can be woven throughout the day - not only delivered as a discrete maths session.

This planning:

• Turns each small step into ready-to-use adult-led activities and continuous provision enhancements.

• Shows how the mathematics can be revisited through routines, play and different classroom areas.

• Provides vocabulary, stem sentences, questions, books and rhymes.

• Helps practitioners understand what to notice, model and ask - not simply what activity to complete.

• Supports observation, assessment and adaptive teaching through children’s play.

• Offers different ways into the learning, reducing reliance on a single whole-class input.

This resource is designed to align to White Rose Maths version 3. Classroom Secrets Limited is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or in any way connected to White Rose Education Limited. Our products are original to Classroom Secrets Limited and any reference to White Rose Maths is solely for the purpose of indicating compatibility and does not imply any association with White Rose Education.