Perimeter and Area Worksheet (Free KS2 Maths Printable)

What this worksheet teaches

Children measure and calculate the perimeter (the total distance all the way around the edge) and the area (the amount of surface a shape covers) of an L-shaped garden. The garden measures 10 m by 7 m overall, with a 4 m by 4 m corner cut out, so its perimeter is 34 m and its area is 54 m². Children find the area by splitting it into a 10 m by 3 m rectangle and a 6 m by 4 m rectangle and adding the two areas. Because the garden is L-shaped, it is a composite rectilinear shape made from two rectangles joined together. This nudges children away from simply learning 'length times width' as a rule and towards thinking carefully about a real outline, exactly the kind of problem-solving the upper-key-stage-2 curriculum expects.

Perimeter and area explained simply

It helps to keep the two ideas firmly separate, because children often muddle them. Perimeter is a length, measured in units such as centimetres or metres, and is found by adding together the lengths of every side. Area is a measure of surface, recorded in square units such as square centimetres (cm²) or square metres (m²), and is found by counting unit squares or by multiplying side lengths. A useful image is fencing versus turf: the fence runs around the perimeter, while the turf covers the area. Encourage your child to say which unit they are using and why, as confident use of square units is an explicit Year 5 expectation.

How to use it at home or in class

Start by asking your child to sketch the L-shape and label its six sides; squared paper with one square for each metre works well. Tracing a finger right around the outside shows what perimeter means. For area, they draw a line to split the L into the two rectangles given, multiply to find each area, then add. On squared paper they can count the squares as a check: there should be 54. A common mistake is to multiply the two longest sides (10 × 7 = 70) and forget the corner where the house stands. The picture can be coloured in once the calculations are finished.

Moving towards Year 6 reasoning

Once children are secure with this sheet, stretch them with reasoning questions: ‘If every side of the garden were twice as long, what would happen to the perimeter? And to the area?’ (the perimeter doubles, but the area becomes four times as big) or ‘Can you find a garden with the same perimeter as this one but a bigger area?’ These questions prepare children for Year 6, where they estimate the area of irregular shapes and recognise that shapes with the same area can have different perimeters. Linking the maths to a real garden, fence and lawn keeps the learning concrete and shows children why these measures matter beyond the classroom.

Frequently asked questions