Here we have a nice little investigation suitable for Year 2 children. How many different shapes can be made with four squares? Use the grey lined squares on page two to show all the different possibilities of shapes made from 4 squares. Agreement needs to be made as to what counts as joining. Corner to corner should not, because if the shape was cut out it would fall into separate parts. However, some children might want to join half way along the square. This is feasible, but it leads to thousands more possibilities. You might want to insist that squares need to be fully attached along their whole length to another square. It's always a good idea to cut out four squares so that they can be moved about, before drawing them on squared paper. Go to Shapes from four squares