Drawing Shapes By Attributes Worksheet

Drawing a shape from a list of its attributes is where second graders stop naming shapes and start thinking like geometers. Instead of pointing at a picture, a child reads a set of clues — three sides and three corners, four sides that are all equal, six sides and six corners — and has to build the figure that fits. This drawing shapes by attributes worksheet gives students that practice in a clean, uncluttered format, and it stretches into solid figures too, so cubes, cones and spheres get sorted by their faces rather than by how they look at a glance.

This printable 2nd grade geometry worksheet is a single page with two short parts. In Part A, students read four attribute clues and draw a matching shape inside a roomy box — a triangle, a square, a pentagon and a hexagon. In Part B, three riddles describe solid shapes by their faces and points, and students write the correct name on the line using the word box. A watercolor picture of a beach ball, a party hat and a wooden block sits beside the riddles so children have a real-world model for each solid. Print it for morning work, a math center, homework, a quick check for understanding, or small-group review, and use the included answer key to check the page in seconds.

What’s Included

• 1 print-ready PDF worksheet
• Answer key
• 4 draw-the-shape attribute boxes (triangle, square, pentagon, hexagon)
• 3 solid-shape riddles with a Cone / Cube / Cylinder / Sphere word box

Three things make this drawing shapes by attributes worksheet effective. First, drawing is a harder task than choosing, so a child cannot guess — the pencil has to produce the right number of sides and corners. Second, the attribute language matches the wording used on assessments, so students get comfortable with words like sides, corners, faces and equal. Third, the page pairs flat shapes with solid shapes on purpose, which helps children see that both kinds of figures are described the same way, by counting parts rather than by guessing from a picture.

Keep the learning going away from the page. Play a riddle game at the dinner table where one person names two attributes and everyone else draws the shape on scrap paper. Go on a shape hunt around the house and sort what you find into flat and solid piles — a window is a rectangle, a soup can is a cylinder, an ice cream cone is a cone. Build shapes with toothpicks and clay balls so students physically count the sides and corners they are making. Trace the faces of blocks and boxes onto paper to show which flat shapes hide inside a solid figure.

Related Resources

• Identifying Shapes Worksheet
• Flat and Solid Shapes Worksheet
• 2D and 3D Shapes Worksheet
• Shapes Song (Have Fun Teaching video)