Five Minute Math- Exploring Bases and Faces

This post contains affiliate links to some of my favorite products. If you make a purchase, Montessori Math Studio will receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!

In this week’s Five Minute Math activity, we explore the different flat shapes that make up common three-dimensional shapes. This activity uses inking and stamping (a great fine-motor activity) to help children visualize the different faces of cylinders, prisms, and more. Ready to try?

Materials

• Large ink pad
• Paper (thicker construction paper works best)
• A variety of objects to explore (that you don’t mind getting ink on)- things like tin cans, small boxes, coins, etc work great. The plastic food that comes with a play kitchen can make some interesting prints.

Here’s How:

1. Show your child how to ink the top of the object using the ink pad, then stamp it onto the construction paper. Talk about what kind of shape you see.
2. If the object has a bottom, stamp it next. Compare the two shapes- are they the same or different? Do they have any similarities?
3. Now for the tricky part- ink and stamp the sides. For a prism (like a box), stamp and compare each side. For a cylinder (like a can), ink the entire surface, then roll it on the construction paper (it should make a roughly rectangular shape). Like before, talk about what kind of shapes you see. How do the side(s) compare to the tops and bottoms?
4. Repeat with more shapes. What patterns do you notice?

For older children:

Starting around six, children can start exploring the geometric terms for different shapes. You can use the shapes and your prints to talk about the names of three-dimensional and two-dimensional shapes

As always, we’d love to hear from you. How did the activity go? Share your thoughts in the comments! And don’t forget to subscribe to our mailing list and follow us on social media for more great math tips and information.