Young children working with geometric figures

Abstract

This paper focuses on 20 young children spatial sense (3-4-years-old) from a public kindergarten, in Braga, Portugal. Three questions were addressed: 1) How do children understand some geometric figures? 2) How is children’s spatial sense characterized, concerning geometric figures? 3) What specific geometry vocabulary do children learn? Qualitative methods using a case study approach were used to describe children’s reactions when solving 10 tasks involving geometric figures and properties of these figures. Results suggests that children’s ideas of particular figures can be improved when specific tasks and materials are used. These aspects are explained in the paper.