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Kindergarten – 1st · Math

Shapes, Sorting & Patterns

Circles, squares, triangles; sorting by colour and size; spotting and continuing simple patterns.

Practice sets

Read the teaching notes, then let them practice on screen or print a sheet. Every set makes fresh problems each time, and you can change the numbers to match where your child is.

Naming shapes

Say this to your child first

Go on a shape hunt round the house before any screen work — a clock is a circle, a door is a rectangle. Counting corners and sides out loud is what makes the names stick.

Watch out for

Calling every rounded thing a circle. Count the corners together: none means circle.

How this works

  1. 1. Read the notes above and do one problem together.
  2. 2. Open Practice and let them work on screen. Anything with one right answer is marked instantly; written answers are shown to you side by side with a good one, for you to judge.
  3. 3. Or open Print a sheet for a paper worksheet with an answer key for you.

Shapes — name it from the description

Say this to your child first

Now they get the description and have to produce the shape name. Go hunting round the room afterwards for one of each: a rectangle door, a circle plate, a triangle roof.

Watch out for

Mixing up square and rectangle. A square is a rectangle where all four sides happen to be the same — that is worth saying out loud.

How this works

  1. 1. Read the notes above and do one problem together.
  2. 2. Open Practice and let them work on screen. Anything with one right answer is marked instantly; written answers are shown to you side by side with a good one, for you to judge.
  3. 3. Or open Print a sheet for a paper worksheet with an answer key for you.

Counting sides and corners

Say this to your child first

Have them trace each shape with a finger, counting sides out loud, then counting corners. Doing it physically is what makes the number stick rather than being memorised.

Watch out for

Losing count halfway round. Have them start at the top and go the same direction every time.

How this works

  1. 1. Read the notes above and do one problem together.
  2. 2. Open Practice and let them work on screen. Anything with one right answer is marked instantly; written answers are shown to you side by side with a good one, for you to judge.
  3. 3. Or open Print a sheet for a paper worksheet with an answer key for you.

Finish the pattern

Say this to your child first

Say the pattern out loud together — 'red, blue, red, blue' — before asking what comes next. Hearing the rhythm is how children spot the rule; staring at it silently is much harder.

Watch out for

Guessing from the last item alone instead of finding the repeating unit. Ask them 'what is the bit that keeps repeating?' first.

How this works

  1. 1. Read the notes above and do one problem together.
  2. 2. Open Practice and let them work on screen. Anything with one right answer is marked instantly; written answers are shown to you side by side with a good one, for you to judge.
  3. 3. Or open Print a sheet for a paper worksheet with an answer key for you.