Shapes and angles
Year 3 · Maths
Explore numbers, spot patterns and explain how you worked it out.
Choose a game
Take your time, try a game and collect stars.
Right angles: less, equal or greater?
Is the angle at 2 o'clock bigger or smaller than a right angle? Sort angles in this
Play Right angles: less, equal or greater?Parallel and perpendicular lines
Railway tracks are parallel; a plus sign is perpendicular. Sort pairs of lines in this
Play Parallel and perpendicular lines
Learning about shapes and angles
These Year 3 Maths games practise Right angles: less, equal or greater?, Parallel and perpendicular lines. Choose a game above for a short activity, or explore the examples below before you play. The full guide for each game explains its controls, gives more examples and includes a free printable for practice away from the screen.
Talk it through
Use counters, a drawing or a number line before moving to a mental method. Ask your child to explain a choice, then change one number and try the method again.
Ask: “How could you show the same answer another way?” Give your child time to explain. Return to an example after playing and ask whether they would approach it differently.
Right angles: less, equal or greater?
Year 3 pupils recognise angles as a property of shape or a description of a turn. They identify right angles, recognise that two right angles make a half turn and four make a complete turn, and say whether angles are greater or less than a right angle.
Try an example: The angle between clock hands at 3 o'clock
The hands make a square corner.
Show the answer
a right angle
What to look out for
Judging an angle by the length of its arms. The size of an angle is about the turn between the arms, not how long they are.
Parallel and perpendicular lines
Year 3 pupils identify horizontal and vertical lines and pairs of perpendicular and parallel lines.
Try an example: The two rails of a straight railway track
They stay the same distance apart and never meet.
Show the answer
parallel
What to look out for
Thinking parallel lines must be horizontal. Show parallel lines at a slant, like the sides of a parallelogram.
Practise away from the screen
- Go on a right-angle hunt around the house: doors, books, tiles.
- Find parallel and perpendicular lines in the kitchen: tiles, shelves, cupboard doors.
Curriculum connections
These games support selected practice connected to Properties of shapes in the National Curriculum in England. Use your school’s sequence to decide when to introduce and revisit each skill. A game covers selected examples, rather than assessing every requirement.
Questions families ask
Where should we start with shapes and angles?
Start with Right angles: less, equal or greater?. Look at the worked example together, then try a round. If the task feels unfamiliar, use the full game guide or its free printable before trying again.
Does this cover everything taught at this level?
No. This page brings together the games currently available for this topic. It supports selected skills and does not replace the full programme of study or practical teaching.