Shape Matching Game

About Shape Match

Shape Match is a gentle, no-pressure game made for the youngest players. A friendly set of big, colorful shapes waits at the bottom of the screen — drag each one up to its matching dashed outline. When it drops into place it pops with a happy sparkle. There is no timer and no way to lose: every try is celebrated, so little hands can learn shapes and practice dragging at their own pace.

Shape Match is one of our puzzles & logic games for kids. This one plays in the iPhone and iPad app rather than in the browser, but 33 of our games are free to play right here — browse the full library to find them. It is also in our games for toddlers and preschoolers collection.

How to Play

• Look at the dashed outlines at the top.
• Touch a colorful shape and drag it up.
• Drop it onto the matching hole — it snaps in with a sparkle!
• Fill every hole to see a big celebration, then a new set appears.

Tips & Tricks

• The shapes are big and forgiving — get close and they snap in.
• Name each shape out loud together: circle, square, triangle, star.
• There is no timer — take all the time you like.

What Kids Learn

Shape Match teaches the names and outlines of everyday shapes: circle, square, triangle, star, heart, oval, diamond, pentagon and hexagon. To drop a shape into its hole a child has to notice what makes it different: the corners of a square, the points of a star, the curve of an oval. That habit of comparing outlines is an early step towards recognising letters, which are shapes too.

Dragging is the other half. Pressing, holding and steering a shape to a target builds the fine motor control small children need for holding a crayon or a pencil, and the generous snap-in means they succeed long before their aim is perfect.

• Learning shape names, said out loud
• Dragging a piece into place

What Age Is Shape Match For?

Made for ages 3 to 5. Two- and three-year-olds may need a hand with the first drag, then usually get it. By five most children can finish a board quickly, and the shapes with more sides (pentagon, hexagon) are the ones worth talking about. Older children will find it too easy; try Shadow Match or Tangram Rocket instead.

Tips for Parents

Name each shape as it goes in, and count its corners together. "Three corners, a triangle" is the whole lesson.

There is no timer and no way to lose, so let them play in silence if they want to. Toddlers often like doing the same board several times.

Afterwards, go on a shape hunt around the room: the clock is a circle, the window a rectangle, a slice of toast a square.

Free Printables to Go With It

Try It Without a Screen

• Cut shapes out of cardboard, trace around them on paper, and let your child match each shape to its outline.
• Use a shape sorter toy and name each shape before it goes in.
• Draw shapes in the air with a finger and have your child guess which one it is.

Shape Match — Frequently Asked Questions