Area and Perimeter Worksheets

How to use the area and perimeter worksheet tool

1. Pick a style from Shapes: Rectangles on a grid (count the squares), Shapes on a grid, Rectangles with side lengths, L-shaped figures with side lengths, or Find the missing side.
2. Set Find to Area and perimeter, Area only, or Perimeter only. This setting does not apply to the Find the missing side style.
3. For the Find the missing side style, choose Given: Mix of area and perimeter, Area and one side, or Perimeter and one side.
4. Choose Size of the shapes: Small numbers, Medium, or Large numbers.
5. Choose Units: Square units (no measure), Centimeters, Meters, Inches, or Feet.
6. Set Shapes on the page to 4, 6, 8, 9, or 12, and Across the page to 2 or 3.
7. Type a Title on the sheet. The default is Area and Perimeter.
8. Keep Include answer key checked to print answers on a separate page after the worksheet, or uncheck it to leave answers off.
9. Select Print or save as PDF. You can choose US Letter or A4 paper.

The preview updates as you change each setting. The page address stores your settings, so a bookmarked or shared link opens the same sheet. New worksheet creates a different sheet with the same settings, and its short code appears under the buttons. Reset settings restores the defaults. At the default settings (6 grid rectangles, 2 across), the sheet fits one page plus an answer key page.

What is the difference between area and perimeter?

Area is the amount of flat space inside a shape, measured in square units. Perimeter is the distance all the way around the outside of a shape, measured in plain units such as centimeters. On a grid, a child counts the squares inside for area and the edges along the outside for perimeter.

The two measures are different even for the same shape. A rectangle that is 6 squares wide and 4 squares tall has an area of 24 square units and a perimeter of 20 units. To find a perimeter, add the length of every side. Area and perimeter answers always carry different units, so a label such as “square cm” for area and “cm” for perimeter helps show which one is being measured.

How do you find the area of a rectangle?

Multiply the length by the width: area = length × width. Six columns with 4 squares in each column gives 24 squares, which matches 6 × 4. The area always uses square units, so a 6 by 4 rectangle measured in centimeters has an area of 24 square cm.

For the perimeter of a rectangle, add the length and width, then double the result: perimeter = 2 × (length + width). The same 6 by 4 rectangle has a perimeter of 2 × (6 + 4) = 20.

An L-shaped figure is a large rectangle with a corner cut away. Multiply the full width by the full height, then subtract the missing corner. For example, a 10 by 9 figure with a 1 by 5 corner cut has an area of 90 − 5 = 85. Its perimeter is the same as the full rectangle: 2 × (10 + 9) = 38.

When a side is missing, use the known measure to work backward. If the area is 30 and one side is 6, divide 30 by 6 to get the other side, 5. If the perimeter is 20 and one side is 4, divide 20 by 2 to get 10, then subtract 4 to get 6.

A square is a special rectangle, so the same formulas work: a square with sides of 4 units has an area of 16 square units and a perimeter of 16 units.