Free printable irregular shapes

Grades 1–4Shapes whose sides are not all equal — how to name them anyway, and why counting sides is the only test that matters. Print it for the wall, or count the sides on the irregular shapes below.

Irregular Shapes math chart for kids Tap the chart to open it at full size

How many sides?

Count the sides on each shape and pick the answer. These are all irregular, and every one still has a proper name.

That is the point of the page. Children who have only seen neat, regular textbook shapes often decide a lopsided figure is not a real shape at all, or guess a name from what it vaguely resembles.

The L-shape and the arrow are the ones that catch people. An L has six sides, which makes it a hexagon — an unexpected one. The arrow has seven. Notches add sides rather than removing them.

Count the sides on each one

  • Irregular triangle
  • Irregular quadrilateral
  • Irregular pentagon
  • L-shape
  • Irregular hexagon
  • Arrow shape
How you are doing
0 of 6

The name comes from the side count alone. Being lopsided changes nothing.

How to use this irregular shapes chart at home

Count sides by touching, and mark each one as you go. A pencil tick on every side is the difference between counting an L-shape correctly and guessing four.

Draw deliberately messy shapes and name them together. Six sides drawn badly is still a hexagon, and making one themselves settles that faster than being shown.

Then measure one and add the sides up. Perimeter on an irregular shape is pure addition, which makes it a good early use for the skill.

The name only counts sides

Regular or irregular, stretched or squashed, the name of a polygon depends on one thing: how many straight sides it has.

This is worth stating plainly because children infer otherwise. Having only ever met neat pentagons, they treat neatness as part of the definition and then refuse to call a lopsided five-sided figure a pentagon.

Saying count the sides, then say the name, every time, turns naming into a procedure rather than a recognition task — which is what makes it work on shapes they have never seen.

Perimeter without a formula

A rectangle has a formula because its opposite sides match. An irregular shape has nothing repeating, so every side has to be measured and added.

That sounds like more work and is actually simpler, because there is nothing to remember. The only skill is being systematic — start at one corner, go round once, mark each side as it is added.

Compound shapes made of rectangles are the hard case, because some side lengths are not printed and have to be worked out from the others. That is arithmetic rather than geometry, and it is where most Grade 5 marks are lost.

Where irregular shapes usually go wrong

Refusing to name them. A messy shape still has a proper name.

Miscounting sides at an inward corner. L-shapes and arrows have more sides than they appear to.

Looking for a perimeter formula. Add every side; there is no shortcut.

Assuming irregular means not a polygon. It is still a polygon as long as it is closed with straight sides.

After the chart goes up

A chart explains the idea but gives a child nothing to do. These do the rest.

Everything at this level: Grade 1 math · Grade 2 math · Grade 3 math · Grade 4 math

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Questions parents ask

What is an irregular shape?

A polygon whose sides are not all the same length, or whose angles are not all equal. Most shapes in the real world are irregular — a regular shape is the special, tidy case.

Do irregular shapes have names?

Yes, the same names as regular ones. The name depends only on the number of sides, so a lopsided five-sided figure is an irregular pentagon.

How do you find the perimeter of an irregular shape?

Add up every side. There is no formula, which children find either reassuring or annoying. Mark each side as you go so none is counted twice or missed.

Is an L-shape a hexagon?

Yes. Count the sides and there are six, so it is an irregular hexagon. It is worth doing slowly, because the inward corner makes it look like it should have fewer.

Are most real shapes irregular?

Yes. Leaves, countries, puddles and rooms are almost never regular. Regular shapes are common in things people manufacture, which is why school examples can be misleading.

What grade is this irregular shapes chart for?

Grades 1 to 4. Recognizing that unequal shapes still have names comes first, then counting sides carefully, then perimeter by addition around Grade 3 or 4.

Is this irregular shapes chart free to print?

Yes. Open it full size and print as many copies as you need for home or a classroom, with no account and no watermark. Reselling it or re-hosting the file elsewhere is not allowed — link to this page instead.