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Making patterns is a great way to work on those early math skills with your preschooler or kindergartner, but with this penguin themed file folder game, your child will also have the chance to work on recognizing and naming 2D shapes as well!
These adorable little penguins come in all shapes and sizes (literally) and are the perfect way to sneak a little extra math practice into your preschooler’s day.
They would also make a fantastic math center if you’re using them in the classroom.
Penguin Shape Patterns
From the basics like squares and circles to the more complex like pentagon and octagon, there are so many fun shaped penguins in this game, it’s kind of crazy.
Basically, I just can’t get over how adorable penguins are when you turn them into various shapes.
To make the game you will, of course, start by attaching the cover to the front of your file folder with some clear contact paper.
Just sandwich the cover between the contact paper and the folder, leaving a little contact paper over each side of the cover, and press it down.
For the inside of your game, simply print and cut out the various pieces in the printable penguin pattern set (below).
For each of the pattern strips, I simply laid them on the file folder where I wanted them and then added contact paper over top of them to secure them to the folder. This keeps them from getting ripped apart if you were to just glue them down and makes the whole process super quick and easy.
You’ll more than likely want to go ahead and laminate the pattern pieces as those will be pulled on a lot more and you don’t want them tearing in half the first time that you use them.
To finish it all off, you’ll need to add some Velcro dots on the far right side of your file folder and the other side of the Velcro to the back of your single penguin pieces.
To use the game, simply have your child look at the pattern and correctly identify the next piece.
Will that pattern finish off with a triangle or a circle? They’ll have it figured out in no time!