Look around, and you will realise that we are surrounded by geometrical shapes, like a circle clock, rectangle books, beds, triangle snacks and many other things. If you look closely, most things that we come across, especially snacks, are triangular, such as sandwiches, pizzas, nachos, etc. Therefore, it is important that we teach about triangle to our kids.
To help your child learn about this shape, we have covered detailed information on triangle shapes for preschoolers. This includes the definition of a triangle, types of triangles, their properties, formula, real-life examples of things that are triangular and some interesting activities to teach your little one about this shape.
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What Is Triangle?
Let’s learn the triangle shape meaning for children.
When three lines meet, it forms the shape of a triangle. This shape has three sides and three corners or angles. It is a closed two-dimensional shape.
How To Teach Triangle Shape To Your Preschooler?
Are you looking for ways to teach triangle shapes to your little one? We have mentioned some triangle crafts for preschoolers below that you can use to teach your child. These are fun and simple triangle shape activities that will help your child to learn about the shape. Let’s get started
1. Draw & Colour
Give your child a drawing sheet and ask them to make things like trees using a triangle shape and colour them.
2. Play Dough Triangle
Children love playing with clay. Ask your child to make a triangle shape using their play dough.
3. Eat & Teach
To make it easier for your child to learn about triangle shapes, you can give them fruits cut out in triangle shapes, or you can even make them a triangle-shaped dosa or chapati.
4. Join The Dots
Take a sheet, and mark as many dots as you can on it. Ask your child to join the dots to make a triangle. They can make as many triangles as they can by joining the dots.
5. Triangle Scavenger Hunt
Hide a few things of triangle shape in different parts of your house and set your little one on a triangle shape hunt.
6. Identify Triangle Shape
On the sheet, make various shapes, such as triangles, squares, rectangles, and circles. Hand this sheet to your little one and ask them to look for triangle shapes and circle them.
7. Hop On The Shape
Using chalk, make different shapes on the floor. Make sure the shapes are big enough for your child to jump on them. Next, ask your child to cross the shapes while hopping from one triangle to another.
8. Triangle Stamp Painting
Take a sponge and cut it into a triangle shape. Dip this in different hues and let your child make free patterns using the triangle stamp.
Some Real Life Examples Of Triangle Shapes
The best way to teach something to kids is by using real-life or everyday things. In this section, we have covered examples of triangle shapes in daily life that you can teach your child. Let’s take a look at triangle shape things.
1. Traffic Signals
Whenever you are road, don’t forget to point to the triangle traffic signals and show them to your child. Although not all traffic signals are triangles, the ones that are, are equilateral triangles, meaning their three sides are of the same length and have the same angles.
2. Roofs
Not all of the roofs are of triangle shape, but triangle-shaped roofs are common in hilly areas, as it prevents snow and rain from remaining on the roofs for a longer period of time. So, if you do not come across any triangle-shaped roof near your home, make sure to show it to your child when the mountains call you the next time.
3. Snacks
Children love eating pizza and sandwiches, and guess what the shape of these snacks are cut into? Yes. It’s a triangle. One of the best real-life examples.
4. Cloth Hanger
If you will look at the shape of the cloth hanger, it’s a triangle. So, while hanging the clothes, teach your little one about this shape.
5. Nachos
Who does not love eating nachos? Teach your child about this shape with the help of everyone’s favourite snack!
6. Mountains
How do we teach kids to make mountains? Using a triangle shape, right? Show your child images of different mountains and ask them to look carefully at how the mountain shape resembles a triangle.
7. Sailing Boat
Almost all the boats have triangular sails. A triangular sail design makes it possible to travel forward against the wind.
Triangle In Geometry
Triangle is a geometrical shape that kids must know about. Let’s take a look at the types and properties of a triangle.
Types Of Triangles
In this section, we will read about different triangle shapes to teach children.
1. Scalene Triangle
All side lengths of this triangle are of different measures. In simple words, no side is equal in length to any of the other sides in a scalene triangle. Also, all the interior angles are different in a scalene triangle.
2. Isosceles Triangle
The lengths of two of the three sides are equal in an isosceles triangle. Therefore, the angles opposite the equal sides are equal to each other. In simple words, this type of triangle has two equal sides and two equal angles.
3. Equilateral Triangle
All the lengths of the sides are equal in an equilateral triangle. Each interior angle of this type of triangle measure 60 degrees.
4. Acute Triangle
A triangle with all three interior angles less than 90 degrees is considered an acute-angled triangle.
5. Obtuse Triangle
A triangle in which one of the three interior angles has a measure greater than 90 degrees.
6. Right Triangle
A triangle where one of the angles is 90 degrees.
Properties Of Triangle
- It has three sides, three angles, and three vertices.
- The sum of all internal angles of this shape is always equal to 180°.
- The sum of the length of any two sides of a triangle is greater than the length of the third side.
- The side opposite the largest angle of any triangle is the largest side.
- Any exterior angle of the triangle is equal to the sum of its interior opposite angles.
What Is The Formula Of Triangle?
Every two-dimensional shape in geometry has two basic measurements, which are the area and perimeter of that shape. Let’s look at the formula of the triangle for children.
- The perimeter of a triangle: It is the sum of all three sides of the triangle.
- Area of a triangle: It is half the product of its base and altitude.
Fun Facts About Triangle For Kids
Now that your little one knows everything about a triangle with the triangle shape pictures shared above, it’s time we read some fun facts about the same.
- The sum of all three angles of a triangle is always equal to 180 degrees.
- When we draw a line in a rectangle from one corner to another, we cut the rectangle into two right triangles.
- The sum of the length of any two sides of a triangle is always greater than the length of the third side.
- The longest side of a right-angled triangle is called the hypotenuse. It is always found opposite the right angle.
- Two-dimensional shape triangle is often used in construction because of its great strength.
- Triangles have names which describe the type of angle they contain – acute, obtuse & right triangles.
It is not possible for kids to learn everything about triangle shapes in one go. Therefore, make sure that you give your child enough time to learn about this two-dimensional shape. Teach with the help of activities and real-life examples we have mentioned in the article above, and your child will learn in no time.
Also Read:
Same and Different Concept for Kids
Diamond Shape Lesson for Children
Different Shape Names in English for Kids
