3D Shapes Are All Around Us!

Like many other mathematical concepts, students first learn about the concept of a three-dimensional object through their interactions with everyday environments. The gift they received for their birthday is packed in a cube-shaped box; the party hat they place on their head is a cone; the candles on top of their birthday cake are cylinders!

While this informal knowledge is a vital stepping stone in becoming more familiar with the concept of a 3D object, there comes a point where students must learn the mathematical names of these common shapes. Teachers, start your engines!

Link Real-World Objects to Their Names 

This colouring worksheet has been designed to support your students to recognise and name familiar three-dimensional objects in the environment.

Students are presented with images of various common objects from the real world. They are required to colour-code the objects, then count how many of each type there are. The 3D objects included in this worksheet are:

• Cylinder
• Pyramid
• Sphere
• Cube
• Cone

An answer sheet is also provided in the download.

Tips for Scaffolding and Extension

We understand the need to differentiate instruction and resources in order to successfully cater to the learning needs of all your students. That’s why we’d like to offer these handy tips and tricks for making this resource suitable for learners of all abilities:

• Support Your Less-Confident Students – If you have students in your class who aren’t quite ready to complete this activity without additional scaffolding, then we recommend providing them with a 3D objects poster to help them complete the task.
• Challenge and Extend Your High Fliers – Encourage students who need an extra challenge to draw additional examples of each three-dimensional object on the back of their worksheet, or in their workbooks.

Download More 3D Shapes Activities

Use the dropdown menu next to the Download button to select between the editable Google Slides or the easy-print PDF version of this resource.

As this download includes an answer sheet, we recommend printing one copy of the entire file, then removing the worksheets for photocopying.

This resource was created by Kaylyn Chupp, a Teach Starter collaborator.

Don’t stop yet! We have more fabulous 3D object resources only one small click away!

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Learn the names of some common 3D shapes with this classroom poster.

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Explore the names and properties of some of the most common 3D shapes with this set of 8 puzzles.