This guide supports the Fun with Shapes Class 3 maths worksheet on this page. It covers Class 3 Maths Chapter 5 from the NCERT Maths Mela book, which is part of the latest NCERT syllabus for CBSE schools. Topics include 2D shapes, rectangles, squares, triangles and circles, sides and corners, square corners, faces of a cuboid, curved and straight lines, counting shapes in a picture, making shapes with cutouts and matchsticks, line patterns and the tangram. Use it with the printable Fun with Shapes worksheets for Class 3, the Fun with Shapes Class 3 quiz and the 15 Fun with Shapes Class 3 activities above.

Introduction to NCERT Class 3 Maths Chapter 5 Fun with Shapes

Book: Maths Mela, the NCERT Mathematics textbook for Class 3 (Grade 3). Chapter: 5, Fun with Shapes. Board: CBSE and other schools that follow NCERT. The chapter starts with a rangoli made of dots and shapes, and then looks at shapes in everyday things: boxes, envelopes, tiles, board games, frames and circus scenes. Children make, draw, trace, fold and cut shapes and slowly learn what makes a rectangle, a square, a triangle and a circle different from each other.

What is there in the chapter?

• A rangoli made with dots and shapes, with questions on the shapes drawn with curved and straight lines
• Making a rangoli and objects with shape cutouts, and opening boxes to see the shapes of their faces
• Rectangles: tracing the faces of a cuboid, building rectangles with sticks and drawing bigger rectangles
• Sides and corners of a rectangle and finding equal sides
• Squares: how a square is like and unlike a rectangle, bigger squares and shapes made by joining squares
• Square corners: comparing corners of squares, rectangles and other shapes, and using paper strips to show a square corner, less than a square corner and more than a square corner
• Triangles: counting triangles in a rangoli, making triangles with dots and moving matchsticks
• Circles: objects like circles, drawing circles with bottle caps and bangles, and paper plate folding to find the centre
• Comparing shapes, the largest rectangle, torn rectangles, odd one out and splitting shapes into triangles
• Border designs with curved and straight lines, and the tangram

NCERT Class 3 learning objectives for this chapter

These objectives are written from the content of the chapter. They are not copied from the book.

• To recognise and name rectangles, squares, triangles and circles in objects
• To count the sides and corners of a shape
• To tell a square from a rectangle by looking at the sides
• To understand a square corner and to compare other corners with it
• To trace the faces of a solid and say what shapes they are
• To make shapes by joining, cutting and folding paper and sticks
• To draw shapes of different sizes on dot paper
• To describe how two shapes are alike and different

Learning outcomes

After this chapter and the practice on this page a Class 3 child should be able to:

• name a rectangle, a square, a triangle and a circle and give one fact about each
• say that a triangle has 3 sides and 3 corners and a rectangle and a square have 4 sides and 4 corners
• explain that opposite sides of a rectangle are equal and all sides of a square are equal
• check a square corner with a paper strip or the corner of a book
• say that the faces of a cuboid are rectangles or squares
• count all the squares, triangles or rectangles of different sizes in a picture
• draw a rectangle, a square and a triangle on dot paper
• find the odd one out in a group of shapes and give a reason

Fun with Shapes Class 3 resources on this page

• Fun with Shapes Class 3 worksheet: a printable NCERT style worksheet on 2D shapes, sides, corners and square corners.
• Fun with Shapes Class 3 quiz: a free 20-question online quiz with easy, average and thinking questions, picture questions and instant marks with a reason for every answer.
• Fun with Shapes Class 3 activities: 15 free online activities, made of 5 games, 5 workshops and 5 challenges, with marks and a comment after the challenges.
• Practice sheet: 16 questions you can type and check, with a Show answers button.

What is Class 3 Maths Chapter 5 Fun with Shapes?

Chapter 5 of the NCERT Class 3 Maths book Maths Mela is called Fun with Shapes. It is about flat shapes, also called 2D shapes. Children already know that solids have faces. Here they look closely at the faces and at flat shapes drawn on paper. They find that every shape can be described by the number of its sides and corners and by what kind of lines it has.

Rectangles

Children observe the faces of boxes, matchboxes and erasers. They trace the faces of a cuboid and find that they are rectangles, and that some may be squares. A cuboid cannot have a triangle for a face. They build a rectangle with 4 sticks and see that it has 4 sides, 4 corners and equal opposite sides. A rectangle can be big or small and can be turned in any direction. They also draw bigger rectangles around a rectangle on a dot grid.

Squares

Tiles, chess boards and ludo boards are squares. A square also has 4 sides and 4 corners, but all its sides must be equal. When the square board is folded, it becomes a rectangle. Children draw bigger squares around a square, join squares to make new shapes and count the squares in a picture, including the larger squares made of smaller ones.

Square corners

A square corner is the corner you see on a book or a table. The corners of a square and a rectangle are square corners. Two paper strips joined at one end can show a corner that is less than a square corner, a square corner and more than a square corner. Children use the strips to check whether the corner of a table and the board are square corners. Some shapes have more than one kind of corner.

Triangles

Many things have triangular faces. A triangle has 3 sides and 3 corners. Children count the triangles in a rangoli, make triangles by joining dots on a circle, and move two matchsticks to turn one triangle into two. A square can be cut along its diagonals to make triangles. One cut makes 2 triangles and two cuts make 4. The triangles can then be joined in different ways to make new shapes.

Circles

Coins, bangles, bottle caps and rings look like circles. A circle is a single curved line, so it has no corners. Children trace round things to draw circles. They fold a paper plate in half and then fold it again. The folded lines are straight and meet at a point. That point is the centre of the circle.

Counting, comparing and patterns

The chapter asks children to count all the squares, triangles or rectangles in a picture, find the largest rectangle, work out how many square pieces have been torn from a shape and split a shape into three triangles with one or two lines. They compare pairs of shapes, such as a square and a triangle, and say if their corners and number of sides are the same or different. The chapter ends with border designs made of curved and straight lines and with the tangram.

Types of questions to practise

Questions on this chapter ask children to name shapes, count sides and corners, tell a square from a rectangle, find square corners, say what shapes the faces of a cuboid are, count all shapes in a picture, draw a shape on a dot grid, find the odd one out and describe how two shapes are alike and different. The online quiz on this page mixes choice questions, true or false questions, picture questions and typed answers, and the practice sheet has 16 typed answers.

Solved examples

Common mistakes

Shapes in daily life

We see shapes everywhere. A door and a notebook are rectangles, a tile is a square, a samosa has a triangle shape and a coin is a circle. Ask your child to find five shapes at home and name them, to count the sides and corners and to check square corners with a paper strip. Make rangoli, collages and puppets with cutouts to practise.

What your child learns from the Fun with Shapes worksheet

• Naming rectangles, squares, triangles and circles
• Counting sides and corners
• Telling a square from a rectangle
• Finding square corners
• Faces of a cuboid
• Counting shapes of different sizes in a picture
• Drawing shapes on dot paper
• Comparing shapes and finding the odd one out

Tips for parents and teachers

Give children sticks, straws or matchsticks to build rectangles, squares and triangles. Fold paper to find square corners and let them cut a square along its diagonals. Trace faces of boxes and round objects in a notebook. Ask what is the same and what is different about two shapes. Praise careful observation more than the right name.