K-5 Math Teaching Resources
2-D Shape Cards
Add some visual support to your elementary geometry lessons with this set of printable shape cards. From triangles and squares to octagons and nanogons, this simple resource can be used in countless ways to develop children's knowledge...
Illustrative Mathematics
3-D Shape Sort
From the apple on your desk and the coffee cup in your hand, to the cabinets along the classroom wall, basic three-dimensional shapes are found everywhere in the world around us. Introduce young mathematicians to the these common figures...
World Wildlife Fund
Shapes
Investigate the properties of three-dimensional figures with this Arctic-themed math lesson. Beginning with a class discussion about different types of solid figures present in the classroom, young mathematicians are then given a...
Math Worksheets 4 Kids
Sorting 2-D and 3-D Shapes
Challenge mathematicians to examine and sort a variety of 2-D and 3-D figures with a 10-problem solid shapes worksheet.
Curated OER
Lesson 2: Shapes
Shapes are really neat, and here's a lesson that will help learners identify shapes through song, touch, and sight. They sing a shape song as they bounce different shapes around in a parachute. They then read a story and feel each shape...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Representing 3-D Objects in 2-D
How does the shape of the surface of water in a container change as water leaks out? After tackling this question, learners take part in a similar activity with more complex figures.
Virginia Department of Education
Exploring 3-D Geometry
Take young mathematicians on an exploration of the world of 3-D geometry with this seven-lesson unit. After first defining the terms perimeter, area, and volume and how they apply to the real world, students continue on to learn the...
Curated OER
Geometry Practice: Classifying Solids #2
For this solids worksheet, students identify the characteristics of solids. They name solids and determine the number of faces. This three-page worksheet contains seventeen problems. Answers are listed on the last page.
Curated OER
The Shape Show
Define plane shapes by their properties, then use this game to reinforce those skills. Learners use given properties as clues to determine each shape. They work to name ten different shapes, six of which are polygons.
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Shapes - Kindergarten
Extend scholars' learning experience with a unit consisting of five shape lesson plans, an extension activity, assessment, and rubric. Begin by reading a story about shapes, then conduct an overview and assign pupils' their first...
Curated OER
Comparing 3-D Shapes
How is a sphere like a prism? Learners compare and contrast 3-D shapes, first drawing each in the boxes provided. If this is too advanced, supply pre-cut images of the shapes for students to choose from and glue onto the instructional...
Curated OER
Write the 3-D Shape's Name, Part 2
Geometry can be fun when you know the shapes! Twelve pictures of geometric shapes, including cones, pyramids, and spheres, prompt first graders to write the name of each shape in the space provided. Use the activity as a quiz or homework...
Curated OER
Recognizing 3-D Shapes, Part 2
Take your math lesson to another dimension with this lesson about 3-D shapes! First graders label cones, cylinders, pyramids, spheres, cubes, and prisms, and then count the number of each shape in a collective picture. A great way to...
Curated OER
Sorting 2-Dimensional Shapes
Explore shape attributes with young geometers as they sort nine shapes based on their corners. Scholars determine whether or not each shape has a square corner, drawing it in the appropriate space accordingly. They are encouraged to use...
Curated OER
2-Dimensional Shapes: Naming Shapes
Get to know eight shapes by name: square, rectangle, triangle, pentagon, hexagon, and octagon. Young geometers write the correct name below each of these shapes, using a word bank for guidance. Then, they draw two of the shapes (hexagon...
Curated OER
2-Dimensional Shapes: Drawing Shapes
Some of the best practice with shape identification comes from drawing the figures first-hand. Young geometers draw nine two-dimensional shapes: rectangle, circle, square, pentagon, hexagon, octagon, triangle with three equal sides,...
K-5 Math Teaching Resources
2D Shapes
Learners will recognize these colored two-dimensional shapes and their names. The circle and all shapes with three to six sides are presented in this two-page reference sheet. With only four shapes looming large on each page, this can...
Royal Society of Chemistry
Shapes of Molecules—Geometry of Central Atom
How is a molecule's shape determined? Explore bond angles, lone pairs, and VSEPR theory through a logic-based activity. Chemists pull together information about the major molecular shapes, then use it to solve puzzles.
Math in English
3-D Shapes
Young mathematicians look at five 3-D shapes and name them based on the accompanying image. For each shape, learners state the number of faces, vertices, and edges.
Curated OER
Shapes: Art or Geometry
Budding artists or mathematicians read about,and then draw, two very different shapes. Geometric and organic 2-D shapes are defined. Learners use the definitions to draw examples of each.
Curated OER
Shape Up!
An outstanding lesson on teaching the basic shapes and polygon names to young geometers is here for you. In it, learners investigate the role of basic polygons in the strength of structures. They use geoboards, rubber bands, streamed...
Curated OER
Can You Name That Shape?
Learners use materials to build, investigate, and draw two-dimensional shapes (polygons). They combine the shapes they have built and draw from the pile to begin a round-robin activity to name and determine the attributes of a selection...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
Geo Shapes
Invite your first graders to compose and decompose two and three-dimensional figures with this fun, hands-on instructional activity. They investigate and predict the results of putting together and taking apart two-dimensional shapes...
Curated OER
Color the Right Shapes
I remember doing this activity when I was little. Learners color each shape the color indicated at the top of the page. Squares are blue, cubes are red, circles are green and so on. There are 30 shapes to identify and color.