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Properties of Shapes: Draw, Build and Spot Lines

Properties of Shapes: Draw, Build and Spot Lines

Learn the properties of shapes by drawing 2-D shapes on dotty paper, building 3-D models from straws and clay, and spotting parallel lines.

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What you'll learn

  • How to draw triangles, squares, rectangles, pentagons and hexagons accurately
  • What faces, edges and vertices are on a 3-D shape
  • How many faces, edges and vertices a cube and prism have
  • That turning a 3-D shape never changes its name
  • How to tell horizontal lines from vertical lines
  • How to spot parallel and perpendicular lines, even when tilted

Chapter by chapter

  1. Drawing 2-D shapes: sides and corners Free to try

    Year 3 maths · 1

  2. Making 3-D shapes: faces, edges and vertices

    Year 3 maths · 1

  3. Recognising 3-D shapes turned different ways

    Year 3 maths · 1

  4. Horizontal and vertical lines

    Year 3 maths · 2

  5. Parallel and perpendicular lines

    Year 3 maths · 2

  6. Shape Master Challenge (10 questions)

What the chapters cover in the national curriculum in England:

  1. Year 3 maths: Draw 2-D shapes and make 3-D shapes using modelling materials; recognise 3-D shapes in different orientations and describe them
  2. Year 3 maths: Identify horizontal and vertical lines and pairs of perpendicular and parallel lines

About this adventure

Shape Lab is an interactive properties of shapes game that teaches children aged 7–9 to draw 2-D shapes, make and describe 3-D shapes, and identify horizontal, vertical, parallel and perpendicular lines, matching Year 3 maths in England.

Players join dots to draw polygons such as pentagons and hexagons, then press clay balls onto the vertices of a model, add straws for its edges and cover its faces with card. They turn a cone, prism or pyramid upside down or onto its side and find that its name stays the same.

Later, a spirit level and a plumb line help them make a plank horizontal or vertical. Children also turn a line until it is parallel (always the same distance apart) or perpendicular (meeting at a right angle). A friendly narrator reads every instruction aloud, and common mix-ups, like counting only the faces you can see, are explained as they happen.

Questions and answers

What is the difference between parallel and perpendicular lines?

Parallel lines always stay the same distance apart and never meet, like the two rails of a train track. Perpendicular lines meet or cross at a right angle, which is a square corner, like the corner of a book.

How many faces, edges and vertices does a cube have?

A cube has 6 faces, 12 edges and 8 vertices. The faces are flat squares, the edges are where two faces meet, and the vertices are the corners where edges join together.

Does a 3-D shape change if you turn it upside down?

No, turning a 3-D shape does not change what it is. A cone lying on its side is still a cone, with the same faces, edges and vertices, even though it looks different from where you are standing.

What age is this properties of shapes game for?

The game is made for children aged 7 to 9 and follows the Year 3 maths curriculum in England. Younger children can play with help, and older children can use it to revise shapes and lines.

What does the Shape Lab game include and how long does it take?

It has five chapters and a 10-question Shape Master Challenge, taking about 40 minutes to play in full. Children can start from any chapter and return to the chapter map whenever they like.

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