3D shapes chart
A 3D shape is solid: it has length, width and height. This chart draws the eight a child meets first, prisms, pyramids and the solids with a curved surface, and counts the faces, edges and vertices of each.
Free printable PDF, Kindergarten to 5th grade.
One page, black and white, prints the same every time.
What is on the sheet
Prisms
| Cube6 faces, 12 edges, 8 vertices | Rectangular prism6 faces, 12 edges, 8 vertices | Triangular prism5 faces, 9 edges, 6 vertices |
Pyramids
| Square pyramid5 faces, 8 edges, 5 vertices | Triangular pyramid4 faces, 6 edges, 4 vertices |
A curved surface
| SphereNo flat faces, edges or vertices | Cylinder2 flat faces, no vertices | Cone1 flat face, 1 vertex |
Faces, edges and vertices
A face is a flat side. An edge is where two faces meet, and a vertex is a corner where edges meet. A cube has 6 square faces, 12 edges and 8 vertices. Hold a real box and count them with the chart beside it; the faces at the back are the ones children miss.
The cube and the rectangular prism have the same counts because a cube is a rectangular prism with square faces. A pyramid is named for its base: the square pyramid has a square base and 4 triangle faces, and the triangular pyramid is triangles all round.
Where 3D shapes come up
Kindergarten names solids and tells them from flat shapes (CCSS K.G.A.3). 1st grade builds with cubes, prisms, cones and cylinders (1.G.A.2), and 2nd grade counts faces and angles (2.G.A.1). In 5th grade the rectangular prism comes back for volume.
Common questions
- Does a cylinder have edges?
- Books disagree. A cylinder has no straight edges, and many math books say it has none. Others count the two curved rims where the flat faces meet the curved surface as edges. The chart leaves edges out for the cylinder and the cone and gives the counts nobody argues about.
- What is the difference between a prism and a pyramid?
- A prism has two matching faces at its ends, joined by rectangles, so it looks the same all the way along. A pyramid has one base, and triangle faces rise from it to meet at a single point.