I am happy to join my shape friends. I am an oval, a slightly squashed version of a circle. I don’t roll well, but I make great cat eyes. You can use me to create eggs or holes in the ground, be careful you don’t fall in. I am also great as a plate; you can decorate me around the edges or the middle and place yummy treats on me. Play with me, and pair me with other shapes to make your art slides fun and unique.

I am jumping in to join my shape friends. Don’t I look terrific? I am a pentagon, and I have five sides and five corners. Your pets can have so much fun fitting me together to form unusual art. A single pentagon looks like the silhouette of a barn or house. Put a few of me together, and I make good paving stones or wall decorations. Play around with me and see what new animals or fun buildings you can create.

We have puzzle shapes, but I have come to join in the fun as they were a bit lonely with no connecting puzzle pieces to join up with. Now you can finish a whole puzzle. When you are done having fun joining me up with my pals, you and your pets can decide on what picture should be on me if you want a picture.

I’ve been hanging around since 1767, but I usually have a pretty picture painted on me. What were those Artists thinking? What good am I to anyone plain and boring? I’m even too small and stiff to be useful for toilet paper…But hello, David has found a new use for me, in the Fruit Machine, where I am the best prize on the wheel, because I unlock all manner of wonderful mystery prizes!!! And now I am so popular that I’ll probably stick around for another 250 years!

I am certainly the premium shape, because I am both decorative and symbolic, so I have the most responsibilities! All year round, I may be used to tie back a little pet’s hair. But I really come into my own at certain times of the year, when I am used as an awareness raising ribbon, for some very important causes, such as: 9/11 remembrance; POW/MIAs, melanoma; narcolepsy; sleep apnea and sleep disorders; and anti-violence in NZ (to name just a few). If you know of other causes that I represent, I would love to showcase them in your art!

The rarest of all the buckyballs, I was created by a crack team of penguin physicists from an ordinary greyscale buckyball. What appears to be a glossy coating is actually a very thin layer of force field which stops me from going into a mutual annihilation reaction with all the surrounding matter. Handle me with care!

I started my career as a humble full stop working for various minor fonts. I got my first big break with Helvetica, and went on from there to work with a number of better-known fonts including Times New Roman and Garamond. It was at Garamond that I got my next break: the colon went off sick, and I was drafted in with another full stop as a replacement. I did so well that I was offered an opportunity in Hebrew vowels. I enjoyed that immensely, but soon decided that I wanted to broaden my horizons even more and work with lots of different shapes in all sorts of colours. So here I am!

I'm a heart - what's not to love? Obviously I'm essential for your Valentine scenes, but there's so much more to me than that. You need me to play cards, for instance. Turn me upside down and add a vertical line to make the spade, and make the diamond by overlapping two of me, one upside down. The only suit I can't make is the club. Clever, eh?

When you need to draw the line, I'm always ready to assist. Use me on my own or with my friends as part of a border or more complicated structure; very few shapes are more versatile than I am.

You can, of course, also use any of the plain coloured backgrounds as a rectangle, but I still have my place; my proportions are different. I'm somewhere between the background rectangle and the square. Because, you know, not all rectangles are equal.

Yes, I'm a square, but I'm not as square as you might think! I'm actually very cool and some even call me hot. You see, some of my colours are 'cool' (green, blue and purple) and some are 'hot' (red, orange, and yellow). I am definitely the hippest square you have ever seen!

I'm a five-pointed star, one of the more complex shapes the penguins make. Use me on my own or as part of a repeating pattern. I'm a particularly fun addition to the top of a Christmas tree or a piece of festive bunting.

I'm a neat equilateral triangle, perfect for all manner of artistic compositions. Take six of me and you can build a hexagon, either in a single colour or any scheme of your choice.

One of the world's earliest significant inventions, I'm now even more useful than I was when I was first thought of. I'm essential if you want to build your own transport, from a unicycle to a juggernaut. I think I look particularly good on a pram, though I do say so myself.

When you need to draw the line, I'm always ready to assist. Use me on my own or with my friends as part of a border or more complicated structure; very few shapes are more versatile than I am.

Thin lines are great. Some of my best friends are thin lines. But for when you need something just a bit more substantial, I'm here to help. I may be plain and basic, but I'm as versatile as your imagination, and remember I come in the same shades as the plain backgrounds so you can also use me as a colour mask.

Thin lines are great. Some of my best friends are thin lines. But for when you need something just a bit more substantial, I'm here to help. I may be plain and basic, but I'm as versatile as your imagination, and remember I come in the same shades as the plain backgrounds so you can also use me as a colour mask.