When she first introduced area and perimeter, third-grade teacher Genia Connell noticed her students struggling to grasp the math concepts. She found that “the best way to help students learn the difference between the two (and how to properly calculate each) is to have them engage in several different hands-on activities.” 

Connell uses the following activities to teach area and perimeter separately and then reinforces them with engaging cumulative activities that emphasize both concepts together. 

Introduce the Concepts

These books will provide a great introduction to perimeter and area for your students, as well as differentiated practice activities for various grade levels and abilities.

Teach Perimeter

STRAW POLYGONS: Cut straws into lengths of 2, 4, and 6 inches and cut pipe cleaners into 2-inch pieces. Distribute sets of the varying lengths to each student so they can independently explore perimeter by making polygon shapes on their desktops. 

Students should measure and record the lengths of the shapes they create and draw the shapes in their math notebooks, annotating the length of each side along with the total perimeter.

GEOBOARDS: In this follow-up activity, challenge your students to create shapes with different perimeters by using rubber bands on a geoboard. For example, you might ask them to make a square with a perimeter of 16 or a triangle with a perimeter of 12. Then have your students create unique polygons and record the perimeter of each.

FLOOR POLYGONS: Use masking tape to create several large polygons on the floor and mark each side with a letter. Your students can use yardsticks and tape measures to record the length of each side and then add them together to find the perimeter. 

After measuring the floor polygons, students can measure the perimeters of other large, everyday items like rugs, cabinet doors, and the surface of their desks. They should record the measurements in their math journals along with an annotated diagram.

PLAN A DINNER PARTY: This activity ties in perfectly with Spaghetti and Meatballs for All! A Mathematical Story. In the book, the hosts of a dinner party invite over 32 friends, intending to sit them at 8 square tables that seat 4 people each. When the guests try to rearrange themselves into other groupings, they quickly realize that their hosts were right all along!

Read the first part of the book to your class, up until the guests begin to move the tables around. Tell your students that they are going to help the hosts arrange tables so everyone is happy. Give your students 8 squares that represent the tables and 32 smaller squares for the guests and ask them to come up with another way to arrange the tables for the guests.

After some exploration, they will discover that the only arrangement that can fit all 32 guests is Mrs. Comfort’s original plan!

Calculate Area 

Once your students have a solid grasp of perimeter, it’s time to introduce area. A great way to do this is with square-shaped manipulatives such as connecting math cubes, building blocks, or even edible manipulatives like crackers.

Challenge students to create closed shapes using the “square units” of their manipulatives. To find the area of any shape they create, they just need to count the total number of squares! 

Students can then compare and contrast the area and perimeter of different polygons they create. They will discover that the same 20 manipulatives can yield many different perimeters,  even though the area always remains 20.

TIP: Store your manipulatives in plastic sandwich bags that contain 36 units each. This will save time counting out squares, since students can just grab a bag and get to work!

Discover Area and Perimeter in Text and Art

All you need is some graph paper to keep your students exploring perimeter and area while they learn new words and create fun, blocky artwork.

WORD STUDY MEETS MATH: Have students write their weekly word list on square centimeter graph paper and then calculate the area and perimeter of each word. Words with tall letters like b, d, and k, along with letters that hang down like g, p, and q, take up two spots. For example, the word “road” has an area of 5 sq. cm. and a perimeter of 12 cm. while “boat” has an area of 6 sq. cm. and a perimeter of 14 cm. 

NAME BANNERS: Students will enjoy using graph paper to find the area and perimeter of their names. Have students write out their names in block letters and then count the squares to find the area and perimeter of each letter. By adding those together, they will discover the area and perimeter of their entire name! 

TIP: Have students work in cooperative groups so if a student has trouble visualizing how the letter m can be made out of squares, another group member can lend a hand.

CENTIMETER GRID MASTERPIECES: Finally, students can use the graph paper to get in touch with their inner artists. They can create any piece of artwork they want — as long as they can calculate the area and perimeter of whatever they draw!

(Teaching math concepts like area, perimeter and time among others can be fun when done with books! Here are more ways books about math can be helpful in the classroom.) 

Shop more fun books about math concepts below! You can find all books and activities at The Teacher Store.