Free Printable 3D Shapes Chart for Preschool, Pre-K, and Kindergarten

Once your toddlers or preschoolers have become comfortable with recognizing and drawing 2D shapes, it’s the perfect moment to introduce them to the captivating world of 3D (three-dimensional) shapes. Download our free Printable 3D Shapes Chart and unlock a treasure trove of fun activity ideas for teaching and playing with your children.

Scroll down to download 3D Shapes Chart (English) for Free!

Printable 3D Shapes Chart

The 3D shapes chart includes the six most basic 3D shapes that your kids need to learn:

• sphere
• cone
• cylinder
• cube
• pyramid
• prism

We also made 2D Shapes Charts that ranged from basic to complex. If you’re interested, you can get it for free here.

Fun and Easy 3D Shapes Activities for Kids

1. Shape Hunt Game

Cut a shape out of the chart and have fun searching your house or neighborhood for objects that match that shape. You can make the game more challenging by using a 3D shapes chart as a reference and searching the shapes in real life.

2. Explore 3D Shapes

It is easy to teach your kids to recognize what the shapes look like. However, it always takes longer for children to learn and remember the characteristics of each shape, especially 3D shapes.

With this activity using our 3D shapes worksheet, you can easily introduce and help them compare the shapes by counting the number of faces and edges or other characteristics.

Download the worldsheet for FREE here!

I’d be grateful if you checked out our 40% OFF Bundle – All About 2D Shapes Worksheets, which has 100+ pages with a variety of activities for toddlers, preschool through kindergarten kids. Shapes learning activities for homeschool and class that are simple and enjoyable!

3. 3D Playdough Shapes

Playdough is also a useful tool for exploring shapes. Print out and laminate the charts (optional) then let your kid make the shapes out of playdoh and place the shapes on top of the chart.

You can also add matchsticks to the playdough and invite kids to create 2D and 3D shapes. 

4. Memories Games

Cut the shapes out of the chart. Show 4 or 6 shapes in front of your child, then encourage him/her to focus and remember the shapes in 5 seconds. After that, they close their eyes and you hide 1 or 2 shapes before your kids open their eyes. Ask them which shape is missing? 

You can make it harder by decreasing the period of time your kids can watch and remember the cards before you hide some of them. 

After they recognize all the basic 3D shapes in the chart, the next step is to ask them to select one or two things around the house. Show these items to your children and do the same activities as previously. Allow them a little time to remember all the items before questioning them. Could you please tell me which items and shapes are missing?

5. My Mystery Shape Bag

Gather a number of different objects and put them in closed bags. Your kids have no idea what is inside. Encourage them to take one-by-one objects in the bag and call out what shapes they are and help your toddler sort them into piles according to shape.

This game can be more difficult if you use a dark cloth to gently cover their eyes. Let your kids take the object in the bag without seeing them. They have to use other senses like touch, smell and hear to guess what it is and what shape they are. 

Don’t forget to reward them with something that they really like after their guess is correct. I am sure your kids will love this game and learn the shapes faster.

6. Drawing Time!

If kids can write or sketch down what they’re learning, they’ll remember it better. Give them a sheet of paper and a pen and they’ll be good to go.

Then draw 3D shapes together. You can draw on each shape some silly, happy, or sad faces and name each of them with your family members’ names. 

It is a simple fun way for kids can enjoy and learn shapes as well as emotive facial expressions.

You can watch how to draw 3D shapes here before instructing your kids.

7. Foldable 3D Shapes

If your kids love to color, cut, and paste activities, this is a great activity for them to play with and learn about 3D shapes. Great for ALL ages!

Here is our selection of nets for 3D geometric shapes, including nets for a cube, rectangular prism, cylinder, square-based pyramid, triangle-based pyramid, cone, and triangular prism.

Click here to grab it all for FREE!

OR 50% Off Bundle 2D and 3D Shapes Resources for homeschool and class!

More Shapes Resources

• Free 2D Shapes Charts (from basic to advanced)
• 2D and 3D Shapes Flashcards (English)
• Bilingual Shape Flashcards in English and Spanish/Vietnamese/Japanese
• Shape Worksheets – a variety of no-prep shapes worksheets have been prepared to teach children to learn 2D and 3D shapes and to improve their fine motor skills by accurately tracing, coloring, drawing, and much more. Great resources for homeschool or for morning work, pencil control activities, scissor skills activities, and homework in classes. Click the images to preview these value bundles – you can save up to 35%!

More Free English Resources

• Flashcards of Alphabet and 28 Fun Alphabet Games
• Number Flashcards and 15 Fun Number Activities
• Weather Chart and Worksheets
• Printable Solar System Flashcards

At Little Multilingual Minds, your voice is more than just feedback. It would be our motivation to grow and do better through time.

Please feel free to give us feedback, embellish, modify, and expand these activities for your child. Share with us the pictures that your children are playing with these charts on our communities on Facebook and Instagram as well.

Love to hear your voice here!