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2nd Grade Geometry Activities

19 2nd grade geometry activities. Teacher favorites: Triangle Cut Outs and Seaside Symmetry Activity. How teachers use these

2nd Grade Geometry Activities

19 2nd grade geometry activities. Teacher favorites: Triangle Cut Outs and Seaside Symmetry Activity. How teachers use these

Activity
Activity2nd GradeTriangle Cut Outs

This triangle cut outs activity has children sort 12 shape cards and cut out big triangles. Made for Preschool to 2nd Grade, with an answer key included for quick checking.

Activity
Activity2nd GradeSeaside Symmetry Activity

In this seaside symmetry activity, 2nd to 5th grade students find the line of symmetry in sea pictures and sort them as symmetrical or asymmetrical, with an answer key included.

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Activity2nd Grade2D 3D Flat Shapes Solid Figures Activity

Children sort shape cards into flat shapes and solid figures in this 2d 3d flat shapes solid figures activity for kindergarten to 2nd grade, with a practice page and answer key included.

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Activity2nd GradeMaking New Shapes Activity

This making new shapes activity helps K to 2nd grade students build and name composite shapes with cut-out pieces and self-check cards, answer key included.

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Activity2nd GradeMaking Shapes From Shapes Activity

This making shapes from shapes activity helps K through 2nd grade students build bigger shapes from triangles, rhombuses, trapezoids and squares. Answer key included.

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Activity2nd GradePizza For All Equal Parts Fractions Activity

Using this Pizza For All Equal Parts Fractions Activity, students cut shapes into small parts and then describe them as halves, fourths, or quarters.

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Activity2nd GradeMatching Shapes Activity

This matching shapes activity is a partner clue game for 1st and 2nd grade: hear clues about sides, corners and faces, name the shape, and race to FINISH. Answer key included.

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Activity2nd GradeDefining Shapes Category Activity

Using this Defining Shapes Category Activity, students sort pictures of 2D shapes into the category that best describes which shape is shown.

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Activity2nd GradeSweet Rectangular Arrays Addition Activity

This sweet rectangular arrays addition activity has 2nd-3rd grade students match cupcake arrays to equal-addend equations. Cards, a recording sheet and practice page, with an answer key included.

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Activity2nd Grade1 Part of a Whole Fractions Activity

Children sort shape picture cards under one half, one third, one fourth, one sixth, one eighth or not equal in this 1st to 3rd grade fraction game. Recording sheet, practice page and answer key included.

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Activity2nd GradeMake it Equal Partitioning Shapes Activity

Students match shape cards to fraction cards in this make it equal partitioning shapes activity for 2nd-3rd Grade, with a practice page and answer key included to build fraction sense.

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Activity2nd GradeGeometric Measurement Area Activity

Using this Geometric Measurement Area Activity, students measure areas by counting unit square and matching square units to pictures.

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Activity2nd GradeMaking Equal Parts Fractions Activity

Using thisMaking Equal Parts Fractions Activity, students cut shapes into small parts and then describe them as halves, fourths, or quarters.

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Activity2nd GradeBuilding Objects with Shapes Activity

This building objects with shapes activity has Kindergarten to 2nd Grade children build six flat shapes with crayons, then count sides and corners on a recording sheet. Answer key included.

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Activity2nd GradePlane Shapes and Solid Figures Activity

This plane shapes and solid figures activity has 1st-2nd grade students count vertices, sides and edges on self-checking marshmallow model cards. A recording log and practice page, with an answer key included.

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Activity2nd GradeSharing Chocolate Rows and Columns Activity

Using this Sharing Chocolate Rows and Columns Activity, students partition a rectangle into rows and columns of same-size squares and count to find the total number of them.

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Activity2nd GradeGeometric Measurement Estimate and Count Unit Squares Activity

This estimate and count unit squares activity helps 2nd-3rd Grade students find area by covering shapes with paper tiles. A practice page and answer key are included.

Activity
Activity2nd Grade1.G.1 Common Core Activity

This 1.G.1 Common Core activity has 1st-2nd grade students sort colorful shape cards into houses by their number of sides, with a practice page and answer key included.

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Activity2nd GradeCandy Land Shapes Activity

Using thisCandy Land Shapes Activity, studentsplay Candy Land to practice identifying the shapes circle, square, triangle and rectangle.

From our teachers' playbook

Count the sides, name the shape!

What do 2nd graders learn about geometry?

Second graders become shape detectives. Instead of just naming a shape by how it looks, they count its sides and corners: a shape with 5 sides is a pentagon, and one with 6 is a hexagon. They draw shapes from clues like "4 sides, 4 square corners," and spot faces on solid shapes like cubes. They also split rectangles into rows and columns of equal squares and cut circles into halves, thirds and fourths. The click comes when a kid realizes a tilted square is still a square!

Our favorite ways to make geometry stick

Shapes are everywhere, so we teach them with hands, eyes and ears. These are our go-to moves.

Draw it from the clues

Give a riddle: "I have 3 sides and 3 corners. Draw me!" Kids sketch on whiteboards, then hold them up. Next, have partners write their own clue cards. Drawing from attributes makes kids look past the picture to the rules.

Why it works: the U.S. Department of Education's guide for teaching elementary math recommends moving from hands-on objects to drawings to numbers.

Drawing Shapes By Attributes WorksheetTry it withDrawing Shapes By Attributes WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →

Shapes with a beat

Play a shape song during transitions and have kids draw the shape in the air as they sing. Movement plus music helps the names and side counts stick for good.

Why it works: a catchy, repeating tune gives the brain a hook to hang words on, so sung text is remembered better (Wallace, 1994).

Shapes SongTry it withShapes SongSongsOpen it →

A 3D word wall

Post solid shape cards next to real objects: a ball for a sphere, a can for a cylinder, a box for a cube. Kids add their own finds all week. Seeing the shape in real life beats a flat drawing every time.

Why it works: children learn more from words and pictures together than from words alone (Mayer, 2009).

3D Shapes Word WallTry it with3D Shapes Word WallFlash CardsOpen it →

Questions teachers and parents ask

What shapes do 2nd graders need to know?

Second graders should know triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons and cubes. They name them by counting sides and corners, not just by how they look.

What is an attribute of a shape?

An attribute is a feature that defines a shape, like the number of sides, corners or faces. Color and size are not attributes, because a red triangle and a big triangle are both still triangles.

How can I teach geometry at home?

Go on a shape hunt around the house. Count the sides on a window, find a cylinder in the pantry, and fold a sandwich into halves or fourths. Kids learn fastest when shapes come from their own world.

Do 2nd graders learn fractions in geometry?

Yes! They split circles and rectangles into equal halves, thirds and fourths. It's an early peek at fractions that builds a strong base for 3rd grade.