A shape song does one job well: it puts the name of a shape in a child’s mouth before anyone asks them to count its sides. This page collects 10 shape songs for preschool, all set to tunes your class already knows, such as The Muffin Man, Frere Jacques and Twinkle, Twinkle, with full lyrics and the tune note for each one.
Four of the songs run through all the basic shapes, four teach a single shape and its properties, and two get children up and moving with a shape in their hands. Each song has a one-line teaching tip on the best age, the motion to pair with it and where it fits in the day. There are also seven shape song videos from Super Simple Songs, Jack Hartmann, The Kiboomers and others, a short section on how three to five year olds actually learn shapes, and answers to the questions teachers and parents ask most. Use the jump links to go straight to a group of songs, or read the guidance first if you are planning a shapes week.
- How preschoolers actually learn shapes
- More learning songs
- Songs that name all the shapes
- Songs about one shape
- Shape action and movement songs
- Shape songs FAQ
How preschoolers actually learn shapes
A three-year-old does not see a triangle as three sides and three corners. They see a whole outline that matches the picture of a triangle in their head. Recognising the shape as a whole comes first. Naming the properties comes a year or two later. That order tells you how to teach.
Name the shape first, count the sides later. Hold up a circle and say circle. Hold up a square and say square. Sing the name over and over, which is exactly what What Shape is this? and Shape Song do. Once a child can pick a square out of a pile without thinking, start counting corners with them. Our 17 Number Songs for Preschool collection gives you the counting songs to pair with that step.
Show every shape in many sizes, colours and positions. If every triangle a child ever sees is red, the same size and sitting flat on its base, then a green triangle standing on its point is not a triangle to them. It is the one shape children reject most often. So rotate your cut-outs as you sing. Show a long thin triangle next to a fat one. Put a tiny square beside a huge one. Mix the colours on purpose, and if you are running a colour theme at the same time, our 11 Preschool Songs about Colors pairs well with a shape-and-colour sorting tray.
Introduce circle and square before triangle and rectangle. Circles and squares look the same whichever way you turn them, so children get them quickly. Triangles come in many forms, and a rectangle is easily confused with a square. Give the first two a week or two on their own before you add the others. It’s A Rectangle is written as a comparison with the square, so it belongs late in the sequence.
Use real objects and shape hunts, not only worksheets. A worksheet shows a shape in one position on a flat page. The room shows it everywhere. Send children to find a circle: the clock, a plate, the wheels on the toy bus. Then a rectangle: the door, a book, the window. Sing Shapes before the hunt and again when the children bring their finds back to the circle.
Let children make shapes with their bodies and their hands. Three children lying on the floor can make a triangle. Four can make a square. Pipe cleaners, craft sticks and playdough snakes let one child build a shape and feel where the corners are, which is what a child needs before the word corner means anything. The movement songs Triangles and Square Shape Song are built for this.
Expect a range. A three-year-old who can name a circle, a square and perhaps a triangle is doing well. A four-year-old usually adds the rectangle and starts to notice sides. A five-year-old can sort a mixed pile by number of sides and tell you why a rectangle is not a square. If a child in your room is at the naming stage, keep singing the naming songs and do not rush the properties. They arrive with time and handling.
More learning songs
Shapes usually sit inside a wider early-maths or back-to-school plan. These collections on the site carry the same format: lyrics, tune notes and teaching tips.
- 17 Number Songs for Preschool for counting the sides and corners
- 11 Preschool Songs about Colors for shape-and-colour sorting
- Circle Time Songs for Preschool for the rest of your morning routine
- 21 Back to School Songs for the first weeks of the year
Songs that name all the shapes
These four songs run through several shapes in one go. They suit a review at the end of circle time, or the first day of a shapes week when you want to hear which names children already know. Keep a set of large cut-outs within reach so you can hold each one up on its word.
What Shape is this?
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “The Muffin Man”
Do you know what shape this is,
What shape this is, what shape this is?
Do you know what shape this is
I’m holding in my hand?
The best opener for threes: hold one shape behind your back, sing the question, then reveal it and let the whole group shout the name.
Shapes
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “Frere Jacques”
This is a square, this is a square,
How can you tell? How can you tell?
It has four sides,
All the same size.
It’s a Square, It’s a Square.
This is a circle, this is a circle.
How can you tell? How can you tell?
It goes round and round,
No end can be found.
It’s a circle, It’s a circle.
This is a triangle, this is a triangle.
How can you tell? How can you tell?
It only has three sides,
That join to make three points.
It’s a Triangle, It’s a triangle.
This is a Rectangle, This is a rectangle.
How can you tell? How can you tell?
It has two short sides
And it has two long sides.
It’s a rectangle, It’s a rectangle.
For fours and fives who are ready for properties: trace each shape in the air as you sing its verse, and add a fifth verse of your own for the oval.
Shape Song
Submitted by: Bunny Wermenchuk
Sung to: “To the tune of: London Bridges”
Circles, diamonds, triangles,
triangles, triangles,
Circles, diamonds, triangles,
Hearts, squares, and rectangles.
A quick review chant for the end of circle time: hold up each cut-out shape on its word, and swap the order once children know it.
Shapes
Original Author: Unknown
Circles, rectangles, triangles, squares,
There are so many shapes out there.
Everywhere you look you’ll see
Another shape. What will it be?
The lead-in to a shape hunt: sing it, then send pairs off to find one circle, one rectangle and one square somewhere in the room.
Songs about one shape
One shape, one song. Sing the circle and square songs first, then add the triangle a week or so later and the rectangle last. Each one names the properties, so they are the songs to move on to once children know the shape by sight.
The Square Song
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “You are my Sunshine”
I am a Square, a lovely Square,
I have four sides, they’re all the same.
I have Four corners, Four lovely corners,
I am a Square, that is my name.
Sing it with a real square in each child’s hands and tap the four corners in turn on the third line.
The Triangle Song
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “POP! Goes the weasel”
I am a small triangle
I have three sides you see.
I also have three corners.
They’re just right for me.
Make the triangle with both index fingers and thumbs touching, and turn it point-down on the last line so children see it is still a triangle.
It’s A Rectangle
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “B-I-N-G-O”
There is a shape that has four sides,
But it is not a square NO!!
It’s a rectangle; It’s a rectangle; It’s a rectangle;
It is not like a square NO!!
Two sides are long; two sides are short.
They are not the same NO!!
It’s a rectangle; It’s a rectangle; It’s a rectangle;
The sides are not the same NO!!
Sing this once children know the square, because the whole song is a comparison; have them stretch their arms wide on ‘long’ and bring hands close on ‘short’.
The Rolling Circle Song
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “Have You Ever Seen A Lassie?
Have you ever seen a circle, a circle, a circle?
Have you ever seen a circle, which goes ’round and ’round?
It rolls this way and that way, And that way and this way.
Have you ever seen a circle, which goes ’round and ’round?
Roll a real ball or hoop across the circle as you sing, and let threes roll their whole bodies on the mat on ’round and round’.
Shape action and movement songs
Both songs here put a shape in the air or in a child’s hands. They are the ones to use when the group needs to move, and they work well with the body-awareness songs in our 20 My Body Songs for Preschool collection, since a child holding a square on their toes is learning both words at once.
Triangles
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “Jingle Bells”
Triangles, triangles,
Have three sides.
Triangles, triangles,
Have three sides.
You can draw big triangles
In the air,
It is fun to use your hands
And make them anywhere.
Draw big triangles in the air with a whole arm, then tiny ones with one finger, and let children finish by drawing one on a friend’s back.
Square Shape Song
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”
Put your square shapes in the air,
Hold it high and keep it there.
Put your square shape on your back,
Now please lay it on your lap.
Put your square shape on your toes,
Now please hold it by your nose.
Hold your square shape in your hand,
Now will everyone please stand.
Wave your square shape at the door,
Now please lay it on the floor.
Hold your square shape and jump, jump, jump,
Now throw your square shape way, way up.
Give every child a paper square before you start and follow the words exactly; it doubles as a body-parts song and works from age three up.
Shape songs FAQ
What shapes should a preschooler know?
By the end of preschool most children can name a circle, square, triangle and rectangle by sight, and many also know an oval, a heart, a star and a diamond from songs and picture books. Naming is the goal at this age. Describing the sides and corners is a bonus that fours and fives grow into.
What order should I teach shapes in?
Circle first, then square, then triangle, then rectangle. Circles and squares look the same from every angle, so children learn them fastest. Triangles vary a lot and rectangles get confused with squares, so both need the earlier two as a base. Add ovals, hearts and stars once the first four are solid.
Why do children not recognise an upside-down triangle?
Because they learned the triangle as a whole picture, not as a set of properties, and the picture in their head sits flat on its base. Turn it on its point and it no longer matches. The fix is exposure: show triangles in every position and size from the first day, and let children turn the cut-outs themselves so they see the shape stays the same.
What activities pair with shape songs?
A shape hunt around the room, a sorting tray of mixed cut-outs, building shapes from craft sticks or pipe cleaners, and making shapes with bodies on the carpet. Playdough and sand trays let children draw a shape after singing about it. Keep the songs and the hands-on work in the same week so the name and the feel of the shape arrive together.
How do I teach shapes to a 3-year-old?
Keep it to two or three shapes, name them often and put real objects in their hands. Sing What Shape is this? and The Rolling Circle Song, roll a ball, trace a plate, and point out circles and squares during the day. Do not count sides yet. A three-year-old who can point to a circle and a square when asked is right on track.
What is the difference between 2D and 3D shapes for preschoolers?
A 2D shape is flat, like the paper cut-outs in these songs. A 3D shape is solid and can be picked up and turned, like a ball, a box or a can. Preschoolers do not need the words two-dimensional and three-dimensional, but they can learn that a ball is round like a circle and a box has square faces. Keep the focus on the flat shapes first, and bring the solids in when the class is ready to count faces and corners.
Pick one naming song and one movement song this week, put real shapes in the children’s hands, and let the counting wait until they ask for it. When the shapes are solid, the rest of your morning routine is covered in our Circle Time Songs for Preschool collection.