2.5y–4.2y12 minFree playFamily timeDevelopmental play
Shape & Position Treasure Talk
A playful, everyday ‘find it and place it’ game where you models language for shape, position, and measures (in/on/under, long/longer, heavy/light, full/empty) using only household objects while your child moves items and talks.
What you'll need
Essentials
- 3 everyday objects: one ball/sphere-like thing (e.g., ball or orange), one box/container, and one flat thing (e.g., book or lid)
- a small safe object to move around (e.g., toy car, spoon, or soft toy)
Nice to have
- two containers/cups (to show full/empty with dry items like socks or blocks)
- two bags/containers with different weights (e.g., one with a couple of books, one empty) for heavy/light
- a scarf or ribbon (to compare long/longer)
Movement level: low
What you'll do
The 4-step guide, with what to look for at each step, is for signed-in parents.
What this develops
- MilestoneReceptive spatial-word understandingMind· 2.7y–3.2y· core
- MilestoneDiscriminates longer and shorterMind· 2.8y–4.2y· core
- MilestoneCompares object propertiesMind· 2.8y–5y· stretch
- MilestoneExpressive spatial descriptionMind· 2.5y–3y· stretch· Step 2
- MilestoneDescribes object propertiesMind· 2.5y–3y· stretch· Step 1
- MilestoneReceptive opposite understandingMind· 4y–5y· stretch· Step 4
- MilestoneNames objects in contextMind· 2.5y–3.8y· stretch· Step 1
What it practices
- Uses positional language.Observable behaviour from Development Matters
- Shows an interest in shape and space by playing with shapes or making arrangements with objects.Observable behaviour from Development Matters
- Shows awareness of similarities of shapes in the environment.Observable behaviour from Development Matters
- Shows interest in shape by sustained construction activity or by talking about shapes or arrangements.Observable behaviour from Development Matters
- Shows interest in shapes in the environment.Observable behaviour from Development Matters
Where it comes from
- Source
- Development Matters in the EYFS (DfE, 2012)
- Original guidance
- “Demonstrate the language for shape, position and measures in discussions, e.g. ‘sphere’, ‘shape’, ‘box’, ‘in’, ‘on’, ‘inside’, ‘under’, long, longer’, ‘longest’, ‘short’, shorter’, ’shortest’, ‘heavy’, ‘light’, ‘full’ and ‘empty’.”
- License
- Open Government Licence v3.0
- Attribution
- © Crown Copyright 2012 (Development Matters in the EYFS, DfE)