3rd grade area & perimeter worksheets

Area and perimeter worksheets for third grade draw a labeled rectangle for every problem and ask for the space inside or the distance around. Sides are single-digit, so the formulas connect straight to counting squares.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core 3.MD.C.7.

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The kind of problems you'll get

Find the area or perimeter. Show your work.

  1. Find the area.

    Answer: 48

  2. Find the perimeter.
  3. Find the perimeter.

Every print pulls a fresh set of problems at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling never gets the same sheet.

What's on each sheet

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

Draw one rectangle on grid paper and do both measures on it: count the squares inside, then walk a finger around the border counting the edges. Area fills, perimeter fences. Have your child write the unit with every answer: square units inside, plain units around.

Watch for: Kids mix up the two measures. Perimeter adds the walk around the edge; area multiplies to fill the inside. Kids multiply for perimeter out of habit. A rectangle's perimeter is 2 × (length + width), an adding recipe, not length × width.

Common questions about area & perimeter

Do area and perimeter use the same numbers?
Same sides, different recipes. Area multiplies the two sides to fill the inside; perimeter adds all four sides to travel the border.
Why does area come out so much bigger sometimes?
It's counting every square inside the shape, not just the edge. A 6 × 4 rectangle holds 24 squares but only takes 20 steps to walk around.

Related worksheets

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Aligned to Common Core 3.MD.C.7. Reviewed by the One more sheet curriculum team. Content version 123, updated July 2026.