Summary
Chapter 4 of the Class 2 Maths NCERT textbook (Joyful Mathematics), "Shadow Story (Togalu)", explores 2D shapes, patterns, corners, and edges through shadow play, tracing activities, origami, and number pattern exercises.
- Shadows and Shapes — The chapter begins with Nakul and his friends watching Togalu Gombeyaata, a shadow puppet art from Karnataka. Children explore how shadows form, observe how their size changes with torch position, and trace the outlines of everyday objects like erasers, leaves, and matchboxes to discover 2D shapes.
- Hide and Seek with Shapes — Circle, Rectangle, Triangle, and Square are characters who play hide and seek behind real objects. Children learn that a shape can hide behind any object whose face matches it — for example, Rectangle hides behind a shoe box or photo frame.
- Corners and Edges — A "Catch the Corner" game around a table helps children understand what corners and edges are. They observe that objects with curved edges have no corners, while shapes like squares and triangles have straight edges and a fixed number of corners.
- Origami Fun — Children fold a square sheet of paper in half to make a triangle, then fold it again to make a paper dog. This hands-on activity helps them count and compare corners and edges as the shape changes with each fold.
- Patterns — Shape and Number — Children create and extend repeating patterns using stamps of bottle caps, erasers, and leaves. The chapter also introduces number patterns where Kikku the rabbit jumps every 4th tile and Kikku's mother every 6th tile, and children extend sequences like 5, 10, 15 and 7, 14, 21.
Key points & formulas
- 01Togalu Gombeyaata is a shadow puppet art form from Karnataka that depicts scenes from Indian epics.
- 02The size of a shadow changes when you change the position of the torch light.
- 03Tracing everyday objects like erasers, leaves, and bottle caps reveals their 2D shapes.
- 04Shapes hide behind real objects that have a matching face — a rectangle hides behind a shoe box.
- 05Objects with curved edges (like a ball or a clock face) have no corners.
- 06Folding a square paper in half gives a triangle; folding again and shaping makes a paper dog.
- 07Number patterns in the chapter include skip-counting by 4 (Kikku's jumps), by 6 (Kikku's mother), and by 5, 7, and 6.
Frequently asked questions
01What is Togalu Gombeyaata?
Togalu Gombeyaata is a traditional shadow puppetry art form practised in Karnataka. The puppets are used to depict scenes from Indian epics.
02What happens to the size of a shadow when you move a torch?
The size of a shadow changes when you change the position of the torch. Moving the torch closer or farther from an object makes its shadow bigger or smaller.
03At what time of day is your shadow longest?
Your shadow is longest early in the morning or late in the evening, when the sun is low in the sky.
04What activity is done in the "Let us Trace" section?
Children trace the outlines of objects around them such as erasers, leaves, matchboxes, sharpeners, and pencil colours, then draw the shapes they get.
05How does Circle find a place to hide in the Hide and Seek story?
Circle can hide behind any object whose face is round, such as a clock or a ball.
06Why does Rectangle hide behind the shoe box?
Rectangle says it looks like the face of the shoe box, so it hides behind it because both shapes are rectangles.
07What are corners and edges?
Corners are the points where two edges of a shape meet. Edges are the straight or curved lines that form the boundary of a shape.
08Do objects with curved edges have corners?
No, objects with curved edges have no corners. For example, a ball or a round clock face has curved edges and zero corners.
09What shape do you get when you fold a square piece of paper in half?
When you fold a square paper in half by joining two corners, you get a triangle.
10How is the paper dog made in Origami Fun?
You fold a square sheet into a triangle, fold it again into a smaller triangle, then fold one corner upward and add nose and eyes to make a paper dog.
11What pattern does Kikku the rabbit follow when jumping on tiles?
Kikku jumps on every 4th tile, following the number pattern 1, 4, 8, 12, and so on.
12What number pattern does Kikku's mother follow?
Kikku's mother jumps on every 6th tile, following the pattern 1, 6, 11, 16, and so on.
13Name some number patterns children extend in this chapter.
Children extend patterns such as 5, 10, 15 (counting by 5s), 7, 14, 21 (counting by 7s), and 1, 7, 13 (counting by 6s).
14What is the project work activity at the end of the chapter?
Children make a wall hanging using cutouts of different shapes with the help of their elders to decorate their home or classroom.
More chapters in Joyful Mathematics
Read Chapter 4 of Joyful Mathematics, the Class 2 Mathematics NCERT textbook (2026-27 edition), online for free: the complete chapter as published by NCERT with every diagram, solved example and exercise, with step-by-step solutions, answers and revision notes. Open the NCERT PDF above, or browse all NCERT Class 2 textbooks.
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