3-D Shape Sorting Worksheet

A ball and a box look nothing alike to an adult, but a first grader is still sorting out which differences matter. The one that matters most in geometry is simple enough to test with a hand: does any part of the shape curve, or is every face flat? This 3-D Shape Sorting Worksheet turns that single question into a cut-and-paste activity, with six solid figures to trim out and two labeled groups to sort them into.

The six shapes are a cube, a rectangular prism, a square pyramid, a sphere, a cylinder and a cone. Each one is drawn as a real solid, with the edges that sit behind the figure shown as dashed lines so children can see the whole shape instead of a flat outline. Students cut the six cards from the bottom of the page and paste each one into the Curved Surface group or the Flat Faces Only group. The cards are printed out of order, so the sort has to be solved by looking at the shapes rather than by copying their positions, and an answer key is included.

What’s Included

• 1 print-ready PDF worksheet
• Answer key
• 6 cut-out shape cards: cube, rectangular prism, square pyramid, sphere, cylinder and cone
• A two-group sorting chart with Curved Surface and Flat Faces Only labels
• Solid figures drawn with hidden edges dashed, so every face can be counted

There are three reasons this resource helps children learn solid figures. First, cutting and pasting slows the work down, so a student handles each shape on its own instead of skimming a row of pictures. Second, the two groups on this 3-D Shape Sorting Worksheet are a true either-or, so every card has exactly one home and a child can check the answer without a teacher. Third, the figures are drawn in three dimensions rather than as flat symbols, which is how solids will look in every geometry lesson that follows this one.

Teachers and parents can take this 1st grade geometry worksheet off the page in about five minutes. Fill a basket with a soup can, a tissue box, a party hat, a tennis ball and a wooden block, and sort the real objects into the same two groups before the cards come out. Ask children to roll each object across the table and notice that the curved ones are exactly the ones that roll. After the sheet is pasted, have students name one more thing in the room for each of the six shapes.

Related Resources

• Flat and Solid Shapes Worksheet
• 2D and 3D Shapes Worksheet
• Sorting Shapes Worksheet
• Shapes Song by Have Fun Teaching