Gooby
Shape & shadow: match each shape
A shape matching game: drag each coloured shape onto its shadow. Little ones start with three shapes, the right way up. Big kids meet turned shadows, spare shadows and Gooby's critters as outlines.
How to play
- Drag a shape from the tray onto the shadow with the same outline.
- Can't drag yet? Tap a shape, then tap its shadow.
- The wrong shadow gives a little shake and the shape goes back to the tray. Help lights up a shape and the shadow it belongs to.
How the levels grow
- Up to age 7 (or no age set): three shapes at first, then one more every two rounds, up to six — circles, squares, stars, hearts, moons, clouds and more, all the right way up.
- Ages 8–12: four shapes, growing to eight. From level 3 some shadows are turned — a sideways heart, an upside-down house — and the shape turns as it lands. From level 5 there are spare shadows with no shape, and from level 7 some shapes are critter outlines: the cat, the fox and the pig all have pointy ears, so look closely.
Turning a shape in your head to see whether it fits (sometimes called mental rotation) is a building block of spatial thinking — the same skill that helps with maps, building blocks and geometry later on.
Questions
What does a shape matching game practise?
Recognising shapes by their outline, and — for older children — spotting the same shape when it is turned round. Dragging also practises careful finger control.
My child can't drag yet. Can they still play?
Yes. Tap a shape to pick it up, then tap its shadow.
What changes for big kids?
More shapes, shadows that are turned round (the shape turns as it lands), spare shadows that have no shape, and critter outlines where only the ears, beak or tail tell them apart.