Area Activities for Kids
In this set of activities adaptable for grades K-3, parents and educators will find ideas for teaching about measurement and area. These activities are designed to complement the BrainPOP Jr. Area topic page, which includes a movie, quizzes, online games, printable activities, and more.
Classroom Activities for Teaching About Area
Graphitti
Give students a sheet of graph paper and have them draw shapes. Remind them to use only straight lines. They may want to use rulers to help them draw. Also encourage them to use shapes with half-squares on the graph paper. Then have students swap their shapes with a partner and calculate the area by counting the squares and half-squares. Next ask students to draw a shape that is 8 square units or 10 square units and ask a partner to check their work. Can they create other shapes with the same number of square units? Encourage children to continue drawing and measuring shapes until the paper is filled.
Area Bingo
Play a modified game of Bingo with your students. First, have each student make a Bingo card. Using graph paper, have students draw five different shapes to represent each letter of “Bingo.” The areas of these shapes can be up to 20 square units. Then have students swap their cards with each other. Meanwhile, write different areas on slips of paper (from 1 through 20 square units) and put them in a hat. When you call an area, have students see if they have a shape with that area in their Bingo cards. The first person to have all five shapes covered gets Bingo and becomes the caller for the next round. Students can swap their cards and play again and again.
Family and Homeschool Activities for Teaching About Area
Paper Shapes
Cut up paper shapes and find the area of each. At first, you may want to use graph paper to draw and cut out shapes so it is easier for your child to count square units and figure out the area. Then draw or cut out squares and rectangles using plain paper and have your child measure the length and width. Help your child multiply to find the area.
Ten Square Units
Give your child graph paper and challenge him or her to draw shapes that have an area of 10 square units. Encourage him or her to be creative! He or she may want to incorporate half-squares into different shapes. Remind your child that two half-square units are equal to one square unit. You can repeat the activity again with other areas, including 20 square units or 50 square units.