A first grader meets five solid shapes at school: the cube, the sphere, the cone, the cylinder, and the rectangular prism, and the goal is to notice their attributes rather than just their outline in a picture. Two of them are easy to swap because they are both boxy, the cube and the rectangular prism, and two more are easy to swap because they both have a circular flat part, the cone and the cylinder. Counting flat faces is the tool that settles the confusion every time: a cube always has six equal square faces, a rectangular prism has six faces that are not all the same size, a cylinder has exactly two flat circles, a cone has exactly one, and a sphere has none at all.
This worksheet asks a child to name a pictured shape, count its flat faces, decide whether it rolls or stacks, and match it to a real object such as a soup can or a party hat. Encourage your child to trace a finger around each face before answering; a shape that can be traced flat on the table is a flat face, and a shape the finger slides around without stopping is curved.
What your child will learn
Name a cube, sphere, cone, cylinder, and rectangular prism
Count the flat faces on a solid shape
Tell which solid shapes roll and which stack well
Match a solid shape to a real object, like a can or a party hat
Worked example
A cylinder has two flat, circle-shaped faces, one on top and one on the bottom, with a curved surface between them, like a can of soup.
Common mistake
Calling a cylinder a cone, or a rectangular prism a cube, because both pairs look boxy or round at a glance instead of counting the faces.
Helpful hint
Count the flat faces first, then decide if the shape rolls, stacks, or does both.
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