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Cookie Cutter Pancakes

The next time you make a pancake breakfast, use cookie cutters to have fun with geometry!

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Materials:

• plastic cookie cutters in geometric shapes (circles, squares, stars, and triangles)
• pancakes

Directions:

1. Prepare a stack of pancakes.
2. Start with one pancake on your plate, and one on your child's plate. Choose a cookie cutter shape and press it into your own pancake.
3. Talk about what you are doing with your child. For example, you might say "Look! I made a triangle on my pancake!"
4. Encourage your child to choose a cutter and press the shape into his or her own pancake. Talk about the shape that your child used. For example, you might ask "What shape did you use? Oh — a square!"
5. Take turns in this manner, talking about the shapes as you do so.
6. Try two different shapes on your pancake and invite your child to do the same. Compare the shapes. How are they the same? Different? For example, "Your triangle is bigger than my triangle." Or, "Your square has four sides and your triangle has three sides."
7. Look for shapes around you that are the same or different from the pancake shapes. Include circles in the search, noting "round like a circle" as you find circular objects in the room.

Parent Pointers:

• Cookie cutters in geometric shapes can be found at grocery or craft stores.
• This activity helps your child learn to recognize shapes and compare them as same and different.