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Year 1 Recognise, compose, decompose and manipulate 2D and 3D shapes worksheet

“Filling gaps with blocks” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 1 maths unit “Recognise, compose, decompose and manipulate 2D and 3D shapes”, for children aged 5 to 6, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 12 to 14 of the year, 15 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Filling gaps with blocks

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 1 · Maths · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can find which pattern block will fill a space.

A Look back3 min

  1. 1.

    What is 3 + 2?

    32
  2. 2.

    1 and make 5.

    51
  3. 3.

    What comes after 4?

    12345678910

B Watch me, then you4 min

Lee has a triangle-shaped gap in a picture. Which block fills it?

Watch me

This gap is a triangle.

A triangle block is the same shape.

It fits exactly. Turn it if it does not sit at first.

Now you
  1. 1.

    Which one block covers this whole gap on its own? Circle one.

    hexagontrapeziumtriangle

C Your turn6 min

Lee is filling gaps with pattern blocks. Lay real blocks on each gap if you have them. Circle or write each answer.

  1. 1.

    Which block fills this gap? Circle one.

    squaretrianglehexagon
  2. 2.

    Which block fills this gap? Circle one.

    hexagonrhombussquare
  3. 3.

    How many triangle blocks fill this gap?

  4. 4.

    How many triangle blocks fill this rhombus?

Say it out loud: Which block did you check first, and why?

D Spot the mistake3 min

Mia says: “Two triangle blocks fill this trapezium space.”
  1. 1.

    How many triangle blocks really fill this trapezium?

E Think deeper3 min

  1. 1.

    Name two different ways to fill this hexagon. Way 1: Way 2:

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet
StudyDen · Year 1 · Maths · Recognise, compose, decompose and manipulate 2D and 3D shapesAnswers are on the grown-up page

For the grown-up

Filling gaps with blocks · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. 5

2. 4 If your child writes 6, they added 1 and 5. Ask what to add to 1 to make 5.

3. 5 If your child writes 3, they counted back. Count on one from 4.

B

1. trapezium If your child circles triangle, one triangle only covers part of the gap. Ask which single block covers all of it.

C

1. triangle

2. rhombus

3. 6 If your child writes 3, they may have counted rhombus blocks, not triangles. Each rhombus is two triangles. Count the small triangles.

4. 2 If your child writes 1, they counted one rhombus block. Each rhombus is two triangles.

D

1. 3 If your child writes 2, they copied Mia. Fit triangle blocks onto the trapezium and count them.

E

1. Look for: Two different ways, such as 2 trapeziums, 3 rhombuses, or 6 triangles.

Words to use

Say“Which block has the same shape as the gap? Can you fit another way?”
Instead of“Tell them the answer straight away.”

After the sheet

Cut a hexagon out of paper. Cut some paper triangles and rhombuses, then see which ones cover it.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

14 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

  1. Patterns that repeat(with a plan)
  2. Patterns that go all round(with a plan)
  3. Tangram pictures(with a plan)
  4. Tetromino and pentomino shapes(with a plan)
  5. Turning cube arrangements(with a plan)
  6. Names of round shapes(with a plan)
  7. Cubes, cuboids and pyramids(with a plan)
  8. Flat faces on 3D shapes(with a plan)
  9. Name and sort 3D shapes(with a plan)
  10. Names of flat shapes(with a plan)
  11. Counting sides and corners(with a plan)
  12. Is it a circle?(with a plan)
  13. Is it really a triangle?(with a plan)
  14. Rectangle detective(with a plan)

Every Year 1 maths worksheet

The worksheets plan opens a printable sheet for every lesson in Years 1 to 6, each with its answers on a separate page for you. It costs £6.99 a month or £59 a year for the whole family, with no free trial.

The full StudyDen plan adds the lessons themselves, marked as your child works, with the worksheets included. It is 7 days free, then £29.99 a month.

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