Area Worksheets
Free printable area worksheets: find the area of a rectangle from labelled, to-scale sides, up to 12 cm or 20 cm. Answers in cm², with a key.
Start area where students start it: with small rectangles whose sides stay inside the times tables. Every shape is labelled and drawn to scale, and every side is 12 cm or less, so finding the area of each rectangle is a multiplication fact a third grader already knows or is learning.
Keeping the numbers small keeps the attention on the idea: area counts the unit squares covering a shape, and rows times columns counts them faster than counting one by one. When the facts are secure, set the longest side to 20 cm in the settings for the larger products fourth grade expects, or move on to mixed area and perimeter sheets.
What this worksheet covers
- Find the area of a rectangle by multiplying its side lengths
- Write area in square centimeters
Common Core standards
- 3.MD.C.7b Find the area of a rectangle with whole-number sides by multiplying the side lengths.
- 4.MD.A.3 Apply the area and perimeter formulas for rectangles.
Frequently asked questions
What is area?
Area is how much surface a shape covers, measured in unit squares. A rectangle 4 cm by 3 cm is covered by 12 squares that are each 1 cm on a side, so its area is 12 cm².
How do you find the area of a rectangle?
Multiply the length by the width. A rectangle 7 cm by 5 cm has an area of 35 cm², because it holds 5 rows of 7 unit squares.
Why is the answer in cm² and not cm?
Because area counts squares, not lengths. A 7 by 5 rectangle holds 35 squares, each one centimetre on a side, which is what cm² means.
Why are the sides kept to 12 cm or less?
So every answer is a times-table fact. A student learning area should be thinking about rows of squares, not working through a long multiplication. Sides up to 20 cm are one setting away when they are ready.
Are the drawings accurate?
Yes. Every rectangle is drawn at the ratio its labels state, so a shape marked 12 cm by 4 cm really is three times as wide as it is tall.
What grade are these area worksheets for?
Third grade, where area is introduced as covering a rectangle with unit squares and then connected to multiplication. With the sides raised to 20 cm they suit fourth grade, where area is practised as a multiplication in its own right.