Lines and Angles - A Hands on Lesson Idea

Recently we’ve been having a lot of fun with our math lessons. We explored area and perimeter with LEGOS® and sticky notes. Now, we’re learning about lines and angles using candy. What kid wouldn’t get excited about that?

While some people hate teaching geometry, I absolutely LOVE it. It’s so easy to plan engaging, hands-on lessons for geometry! This post is all about one of my favorite activities for teaching vocabulary words related to lines and angles.

While some teachers dread teaching geometry, I LOVE it. There are so many hands-on activities that kids love! Building the types of angles (acute, right, obtuse...) and designing models for important vocabulary terms like lines, line segments, rays, etc. is so much more fun when candy is involved. What student wouldn't have fun learning with this simple classroom activity? 2nd grade | 3rd grade | 4th grade #Math #Teaching #ThirdGrade #FourthGrade #Elementary

When I did this lesson with my daughter, I wrote the words and definitions on sticky notes before starting the activity. We were short on time, and many of the words were already familiar to her.

Typically, I would have given my students sticky notes and had them look up and define the words using the glossary from their textbooks.

Vocabulary Words For Lines And Angles

The vocabulary words we used were:

Line
Line segment
Endpoint
Point
Ray
Vertical line
Horizontal line
Intersecting lines
Parallel lines
Angles
Right angle
Acute angle
Obtuse angle

Building Lines And Angles With Candy

We went over each word one at a time. As I gave her a sticky note with a term and definition, she would read it to me and ask me any questions she had. Once she understood the term, she got to use Skittles® and Twizzlers® to build a model of each vocabulary word.

We used Skittles® to represent points and Twizzlers® to represent lines or line segments.

This activity combined two of my favorite things…food & learning. It was loads of fun and yummy too!

We’ll definitely be building on this activity soon when we start plane and solid figures. I can’t wait!

Do You Want More Hands-On Math Ideas?

These are some of my favorite math activities. They’re fun and engaging, and they get kids excited to learn math.

Click on the links to find out more.

Area And Perimeter Ideas

2 Comments

Great ideas! The hands on approach to math really helps students remember and understand concepts. I like how you tied the activity to the key vocabulary by writing terms on sticky notes! And the candy is a great motivator!