3rd grade covering shapes with unit squares worksheets

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Covering shapes with unit squares worksheets for 3rd grade print 6 problems per page. Choose the covering with equal squares and no gaps or overlaps. Area counts the unit squares covering a surface, without gaps or overlaps.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core 3.MD.C.5.

Each print is a different sheet with its own answer key. You don't need to sign up.

The kind of problems you'll get

Choose the covering with equal squares and no gaps or overlaps.

  1. A region contains two rows of three unit squares. Find its area.

    Answer: 6 square units.

Most problems on this sheet sit beside a picture, model or diagram, so this is the worked example the sheet itself prints. The answer key on page two prints the answer under every problem.

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 after the problems.

This sheet is one of the versions on the 3rd grade area & perimeter page, with its own difficulty choices and its own answer key.

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.

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Aligned to Common Core 3.MD.C.5. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated September 2026.

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