Colour and count
Mixed shapes to find the ones like the model and colour them as it says, or to count how many of each shape there are and write it in a table.
Start over?
Teaching guide: learning 2D shapes in the early years
Knowing a shape means knowing that a triangle is still a triangle when it is small, turned round or striped. This free shapes worksheet generator makes worksheets for ages 3 to 6 where the shapes change size, position and fill, so children look at the shape itself and not at the one picture they have always seen. Every worksheet is different and comes with an answer key.
Student worksheet 
Answer key Shape and name
Join each shape to its name. For ages 3 and 4 each name has a small picture next to it, so children who cannot read yet can do it too.
Trace
A model shape and dotted copies with a dot to start from: squares and triangles with clear corners, circles and ovals in one stroke.
Shapes in a picture
Houses, rockets, robots, trains and castles made of shapes: count them, write how many and colour them by shape. Pieces never half cover each other.
No trick shapes
A rectangle is always clearly longer than it is wide, an oval never looks like a circle and, once the rhombus is taught, squares are never turned to look like one.
First 3D shapes
In Grade 1 the cube, sphere, cylinder and cone appear next to the square, circle, rectangle and triangle, so children learn to tell flat shapes from solid ones.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Shapes Worksheets
Which shapes are at each level?
Age 3: circle, square and triangle. Age 4: the rectangle too. Age 5: oval, rhombus and star. Grade 1: pentagon, hexagon and the 3D shapes (cube, sphere, cylinder and cone).
Why are the shapes turned round and patterned?
So children learn that a shape does not depend on its size, position or colour. The fills (dots, stripes and checks) can be coloured over and work just as well in black and white.
How do I show the colour on a black and white printout?
The colour is written by the model and in the table (red, blue, yellow…). Read it aloud, or colour the little box in before you photocopy the sheet.
Are there shape pattern worksheets?
Yes: the patterns worksheet generator has shape patterns to continue and complete. To count pictures there is the counting worksheet generator, and for pencil control the pre-writing worksheets.
What about older children?
Once they know the shapes, they can work out perimeter and area with the area and perimeter worksheet generator. Every resource is in the maths area.
How do I print the answer key?
Press Print and choose Answer key (or Worksheet and answer key): the shapes to colour are coloured in, with the numbers of every table and the lines of every matching set.
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