Imogen’s Shape Shelter

Imogen was making a pretend shelter for a toy rabbit in the garden. Grandad brought a box of large cardboard shapes. “Which pieces could you use?” he asked. Imogen spread them on the grass.

She chose a rectangle for the front wall. “It has four straight sides and four square corners,” she said. Two sides were longer than the other two. The rabbit sat beside the cardboard wall.

Imogen tried a circle above the wall for a roof. It looked like a round balloon. “This shape has a curved edge and no corners,” she said. “I want a roof with a point at the top.”

She found a triangle instead. Imogen traced its three straight sides and counted its three corners. “This point can go at the top!” She placed the triangle above the rectangle to make a roof.

Then Imogen turned another triangle upside down. “Is it still a triangle?” asked Grandad. She traced it again. Three straight sides. Three corners. “Yes,” she said. “Turning it does not change those parts.”

Imogen chose a square for a window. She checked its four straight sides. All four were the same length. Grandad helped her attach it to the front wall, away from the rabbit’s doorway.

The shelter was ready. A triangle made the roof, a rectangle made the wall, and a square made the window. Imogen put the unused circle beside the shelter. “This can be the rabbit’s pretend pond.”

Grandad brought the rabbit to look. “How did you choose your shapes?” he asked. Imogen pointed to the sides and corners. “This triangle has the point I wanted for the roof,” she said.