Year 1 shape and space resources, Year 1 maths mastery shape resources, Year 1 maths shape worksheets, Year 1 maths 2D shape activities

In year 1, the national curriculum for maths states that children should be able to:

• recognise and name common 2-D and 3-D shapes, including:
  • 2-D shapes [for example, rectangles (including squares), circles and triangles]
  • 3-D shapes [for example, cuboids (including cubes), pyramids and spheres]

The non-statutory guidance also states:

Pupils handle common 2-D and 3-D shapes, naming these and related everyday objects fluently. They recognise these shapes in different orientations and sizes, and know that rectangles, triangles, cuboids and pyramids are not always similar to each other.

We have a wide range of teaching resources, worksheets and activities to help teach year 1 pupils about the properties of shapes including naming and describing 2D and 3D shapes. Children should be taught about faces, vertices and edges, and understand the difference between 2D and 3D shapes.

What are faces, vertices and edges?

When we’re talking about 3D (or 3 dimensional) shapes, we often talk about them having faces, vertices and edges. These can be difficult mathematical concepts for children to understand, so it’s best to explain about them in child-friendly, age-appropriate language. For example:

• A face relates to the flat services on a 3D shape, for example, a cube has six faces.
• Edges – these are the parts of the shape where two faces meet.
• Vertices (or vertex in the singular form), are where two or more edges meet (often known as corners).

What are some examples of 3d shapes?

Typical examples of 3D shapes are: cubes, cuboids, square-based pyramids, triangular based pyramids and cones. A 3D shape is essentially something that has three dimensions – length, width and height. Think of a can of beans – that is a 3D shape. You can use our 3D sorting shapes activity cards to help children understand this concept.

What is a 2D shape?

2D (2 dimensional) shapes only have sides and vertices, and can only be described by length and width, not height.  They are completely flat, unlike a 3D shape. Some examples of 2D shapes are: squares, circles, hexagon, pentagon. Explore our 2d sorting shapes worksheet to help children with this, perhaps after this 2D shapes lesson presentation, to help you model the learning.

2D and 3D shape resources for year 1

To save time, explore our year 1 2D and 3D shape lesson plan – this covers all the year 1 maths national curriculum objectives, but also guides you through the learning, with key questions, differentiation and more.