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Features

  • 24 cards: 14 flat shapes and 10 solid shapes
  • A picture of the shape on the front, in soft colors
  • Its name on the back, with its sides and vertices, or its faces, edges and vertices
  • What makes each shape on the back too, such as 4 equal sides or 1 pair of parallel sides
  • A thick purple frame on every front, so the cards are easy to turn the right way
  • Backs laid out to print double-sided, or the fronts and then the backs on a one-sided printer

Skills Covered

  • Name flat shapes and polygons
  • Name 3D shapes
  • Count sides and vertices
  • Count faces, edges and vertices
  • Tell squares, rectangles and rhombuses apart
  • Spot parallel sides and square corners

How to Use This Pack

Twenty-four flash cards, eight to a sheet. The fronts show the shapes: circle, oval, half circle, quarter circle, triangle, right triangle, square, rectangle, rhombus, parallelogram, trapezoid, pentagon, hexagon and octagon, then the cube, rectangular prism, sphere, cone, cylinder, triangular prism, square pyramid, triangular pyramid, pentagonal prism and hexagonal prism. The backs give each name and its attributes: sides and vertices for a flat shape, faces, edges and vertices for a solid, and what makes the shape, such as a square's 4 equal sides and 4 square corners. Print double-sided and flip on the long edge: the back sheets are laid out mirrored, so each card's back lands behind its front. On a printer that prints one side, choose Fronts only under Print, put the printed sheets back in the paper tray, then choose Backs only.

In the Classroom

Hold up a card and ask for the shape's name, then for one thing that makes it that shape. For the solids, hand round real objects (a box, a ball, a can) to match with the cards. Younger children can start with the circle, square, triangle, rectangle and the cube, cone, cylinder and sphere, and add the rest later.

At Home

Go on a shape hunt: pick a card and find something at home with that shape. A cereal box is a rectangular prism; a can is a cylinder.

Tips for Success

  • Count the vertices by touching each corner once
  • A square is also a rectangle and a rhombus
  • Faces are the flat surfaces of a solid; edges are where two faces meet
  • Hidden edges are drawn as dashed lines
  • Card stock makes the cards last

Common Core Standards Alignment

This pack supports the following Common Core State Standards for Mathematics:

  • K.G.A.1 Use shape names for everyday objects, and tell where things are with position words like over, under, next to and behind.
  • K.G.A.2 Name shapes correctly even when they are turned, tilted, bigger or smaller.
  • K.G.A.3 Tell whether a shape is flat (two-dimensional) or solid (three-dimensional).
  • K.G.B.4 Compare flat and solid shapes of any size or position, using everyday words for their sides, corners and other features.
  • 1.G.A.1 Separate the features that define a shape (three sides) from ones that do not (color, size, turn), and build or draw shapes with them.
  • 2.G.A.1 Draw and spot shapes with given features, like a number of angles or faces, and name triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons and cubes.
  • 3.G.A.1 See that shapes like rhombuses, rectangles and squares share features, such as four sides, that make them all quadrilaterals; draw quadrilaterals outside those groups.

© Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.

Shape Flash Cards: 2D and 3D Shapes

K – 3rd Grade

Flash cards for naming flat and solid shapes, with each shape's picture on the front and its name and attributes on the back. Children name each shape, then turn the card over to check it and count its sides, vertices, faces and edges.

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What’s Included

  • 3 sheets of 8 shape cards, 2D and 3D
  • 3 back sheets with each name and its attributes (6 pages)
  • Backs mirrored to print double-sided
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