There is a tremendous amount for children to learn in Year 2 and two shapes that we might expect to be left until later are, nevertheless, included in the Year 2 curriculum. Two such shapes are pentagons and hexagons.

A pentagon has 5 straight sides. Some pentagons have all the sides equal and this is the shape that we are most familiar with. A pentagon with equal sides is called a regular pentagon.

A hexagon has 6 straight sides, and, again, if the sides are all equal it is known as a regular hexagon.

These worksheets introduce the terms pentagon and hexagon and provide opportunities to recognise and sort them.

Go to our Year 2 Sorting shapes worksheets

Here is another in our series of shape patterns. This set of pages is slightly different from the earlier published shape pages because some of the sequences could be interpreted differently, allowing for a number of different possibilities. The important thing here is to discuss what the patterns might be and then choose one. As long as the pattern continues in sequence there are no right or wrong answers.

Shape: colour patterns 5

Learning the correct terms to compare things is vital in the Early Years and one of the most important aspects of measurement. Here we have four more great maths worksheets on maths vocabulary for young children, looking at bigger and biggest. You can find these in our Shapes and Measures section. Pick out the biggest frog and find the bigger boot! Talk about the pictures and use the terms as often as possible around the home.
Of course bigger is a comparative word and is used when comparing just two objects, whilst biggest is used when there are more than two (superlative).

Go to our resources on Bigger and Biggest

Circles, triangles, rectangles and hexagons can be bought in the shape shop. They are priced according to the number of sides. Circles cost 1p hexagons 6p etc.

What shapes can be bought for 20p?

A good challenge which uses knowledge of shape, counting money and logical thinking. There are a large number of possibilities with this and it is unlikely that all combinations that add up to 20p will be found. Nevertheless it is important to try and work in a logical way.

Shape and money challenge (2)

Today we are taking a closer look at our shape worksheets. This is a great set of four worksheets helping with recognising rectangles, triangles and circles. It’s a help to have some templates of these shapes handy to draw round and create fun pictures of your own. The robot on page 4 is a good example of what can be produced.

Talk about the shapes and the properties of them eg a triangle has three straight sides…a rectangle has 4 sides and 4 right angles. Find examples of these shapes around the house, draw them in sand etc.

Go to our Using 2D shape (2) worksheets

Don’t forget that we have some great pages which will help with recognising 2-D shapes. Your child should be able to recognise four basic shapes: circles, squares, rectangles and triangles. These maths worksheets have plenty of interesting pictures just made up of these shapes. Good extension work would be to have a selection of plastic shapes and see what kind of pictures can be made by sliding them around or placing them on top of each other. There are also lots of sticky materials available in craft stores which can be used in scrapbooks or on paper to make pictures. When playing with them don’t forget to keep calling the shapes by their correct names.

Go to the worksheets on Recognising Rectangles, Squares, Circles and Triangles

It’s time to get all the boxes out and try to sort them into types depending on their shape. Much can be done at home to help with 3-D shape work and children love to play with empty boxes; the bigger the better. It’s well worth collecting a store of boxes and much discussion can take place about them, including mathematical language of sides, edges etc.

These four pages look at matching shapes and finding the odd one out and would work really well at the same time as looking at real 3-D boxes. Don’t forget to look at the rest of our Shape and Measures pages which can be found tucked away in the Further Resources section. If you haven’t already got our 3 day trial then now’s the time.

Go to our resources on matching 3-D shapes

The fifth set of worksheets on 2D shape reinforces the earlier pages, looking at rectangles, triangles and circles. Whilst using these pages it is important to keep naming the shapes as well as asking what makes them that shape, ie the properties of the shape. All triangles have 3 sides, all rectangles have 4 sides etc.

Once again it can not be emphasised enough how important it is to have some practical apparatus – a box of plastic or card shapes is ideal. This gives children the chance to handle shapes and see first hand that if they rotate a shape it still remains the same shape. You would be surprised at the number of children who if they see a square positioned so that it is standing on a corner, or point, will not recognise it as a square and call it a diamond shape.

Go to our great 2D shape resources

Interestingly, the Primary Framework for Mathematics believes that 3D shape should be taught at the same time, if not sooner than, 2D shape. The probable reason for this is that in real life children are coming across 3D shapes all the time and will only see 2D shape occasionally in a book, or maths sheet!

These fun pages look at a variety of 3D shapes with the emphasis on comparing and matching them and to find the odd one out. No need to mention more complex names such as cuboid at this stage!

It is a good idea to have a collection of boxes, some of which are the same as each other and to look carefully at them, discuss their properties (e.g. how many sides, corners etc). Also take two boxes which are the same and turn one round and ask if they are still the same can produce interesting answers.

Go to our resources on 3D shape

This is the next in our series of 2D shape sets of maths worksheets. In this set we look at recognising circles, triangles and squares and there is a great challenge to complete: draw a train using just rectangles, circles and squares. If you have plastic shapes available this could really be of help in tracing the shapes for a really neat drawing.

There is also  a page where the ‘odd one out’ has to be chosen. This is an important concept as, for example, the first question on the page shows three rectangles and one triangle, but the rectangles are not identical.

Go to our Using 2D shape resources