Perimeter Practice Problems for Primary Students

Once your students are confident in finding the perimeter of single and composite shapes, they’ll be ready to take on the next challenge: word problems. Word problems require students to differentiate between important and miscellaneous information, then choose and apply the correct operation to determine the answer. These skills require a lot of practice!

This three-page worksheet contains 12 perimeter practice problems based on familiar real-world scenarios. Students must use their knowledge of perimeter to answer each question.

For example: Maria wants to build a fence around her yard. The yard is 40 metres long and 20 metres wide. How much fence does she need?

To help the students visualise the question, a diagram with any necessary dimensions is included under the question.

This perimeter practice problems worksheet downloads as a quick-print PDF or an editable Google Slides file. Answers are also included in both downloads. 

Differentiate This Perimeter Activity

Being teachers ourselves, the experienced team at Teach Starter understand the challenge of catering to the diverse needs of your learners. In order to make this task just a little easier, we’ve provided two different versions of these perimeter practice problems. The subtle differences in these worksheets are outlined below:

• Worksheet 1 – This worksheet provides all the information students need to answer the question. A labelled diagram is included.
• Worksheet 2 – The diagrams on this worksheet have not been labelled. Students are required to use the information in the question to do this themselves.

To make it easier for teachers to identify the two differentiated versions (but not so obvious to the students!), a star system has been used. The harder version of the worksheet has two stars in the top right corner of the worksheet. The easier version has one star in this same position. 

Download These Perimeter Practice Problems

Use the Download button above to select your preferred file option. (Note: You will be prompted to make a copy of the Google Slides template on your personal drive before accessing it.)

Because this resource includes an answer sheet, we recommend you print one copy of the entire file. Then, make photocopies of the blank worksheet for students to complete. 

For sustainability purposes, please consider printing this worksheet double-sided.

This resource was created by Kendall Britnell, a Teach Starter collaborator.

More Resources on Finding the Perimeter

Has this resource piqued your interest in our perimeter activities? Click below for more teacher-created, curriculum-aligned resources!

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Finding the Perimeter Interactive Activity

Get students finding the perimeter of shapes with this self-checking digital resource, perfect for lesson introductions and wrap-ups.

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Perimeter Word Problems Worksheet

Get students solving real-life perimeter word problems with a printable worksheet for 3rd and 4th grade.

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Perimeter of 2D Shapes Poster

Use this perimeter anchor chart to teach students how to find the perimeter of shapes such as squares, rectangles, triangles, hexagons and parallelograms.