Sharpen Shape Skills With the Shape Toolkit

In the episode “Crime at Shapely Manor,” shapes have gone missing. It was a dark and stormy night when Olive and Otto got the call for help. Armed with their knowledge of shapes (and hopefully an umbrella!), the two Odd Squad agents try to get to the bottom of things. In this activity, like Olive and Otto, your child’s knowledge of shapes will help solve four cases.

Hold a shape behind your back. Say, “I confess I stole a shape. But I won’t give it back until you figure out which shape I stole.” Then, describe what the shape looks like. When your child names the correct shape, reveal it. Now it’s your child’s turn to steal a shape. Repeat with as many shapes as you like.

Tell your child that you know a secret. Explain, “There’s more than one way to make a hexagon. Using different shapes, how many ways can you combine them to make a 6-sided hexagon?” Have your child use the shape cutouts to figure it out.

As you are out and about, let your child know, “There are shapes on the loose everywhere! We’ve got to find them and report back to Ms. O with their exact locations.” Then, name a shape and challenge your child to find that shape out in the world. You’ll find rectangles in windows and doors; triangles hiding on the backs of envelopes; and many other shapes hiding on vehicles such as cars, buses and trains. Those tricky shapes are everywhere! Keep a list of all the shapes that you find and their locations. You can keep track on your phone, your tablet or on a piece of paper.

Each Odd Squad department has its own logo. They are all pictured in the “Shape Toolkit” printable. Ask your child what his own logo would look like. Challenge your child to create a personal logo using the shapes in the toolkit.