Area is the squares inside
Before length times width, there is counting: a shape on graph paper, and how many squares it covers. An L-shape is where it clicks — there is no single length and width to multiply, but the squares are still right there to count.
Count every square inside the line.
A square-count area worksheet generator, printable as a PDF. Six shapes a page, each on its own patch of graph paper with a box for the answer. Pick what to find: the area, counted in square units; the perimeter, counted in units around the edge; or, on the compare sheet, the area of two shapes and how many square units bigger the first one is. Shapes are rectangles, L-shapes — two rectangles joined into an L, a T or a step — or both, never with a hole. Units are square units rather than inches, so the sheet is right however it prints. A new set every time, with an answer key.
1 token a sheet, fewer in batches.
US Letter PDF — prints on any home printer.
Look
At the shape and the squares inside its outline.
Count
Row by row, so no square is counted twice or missed.
Write
The number in the box: square units for area, units for perimeter.
Find
Area counts the squares inside; perimeter counts the units around the edge. Compare asks how many square units bigger one shape is.
Shapes
L-shapes are two rectangles joined — an L, a T or a step — where counting beats multiplying.
Your worksheet lands here — download, print, or email it.