Perimeter and Area Math Activity {with LEGO bricks!}

Do your students have trouble remembering the difference between perimeter and area? Here’s a great way to reinforce these concepts with a LEGO math activity!

One of my sons had a particularly hard time remembering the difference between perimeter and area. Both are easy to calculate. It was easy to learn about perimeter and then do a whole page of those problems. Then it was easy to understand how to calculate area and do a whole page of those problems.

But when we had to go back and forth between the two, there was trouble! Soooo hard to remember which is which.

I decided to whip up a quick activity for practicing perimeter and area in the same lesson. The LEGO theme makes it extra fun!

There are three pages to print in this freebie. Two pages require kids to calculate the area and perimeter of rectangles of various sizes.

Then the third page has five fun challenges to solve.

Some kids may want to go straight to drawing the solutions, while others will need some LEGO bricks to play with to help them find a solution.

• Can you build a rectangle with the same area and perimeter? Yes, you can! A 4 x 4 rectangle works, but the interesting part is that not all squares do. A 4 x 4 square has an area of 16 and a perimeter of 16, but a 5 x 5 square has an area of 25 and a perimeter of 20. A 3 x 6 rectangle also has the same area and perimeter, and it’s not a square.
• Can you build a rectangle that has a larger perimeter than area? This is pretty easy to do because the numbers that work are small, like 3 x 4 and 3 x 5 and 2 x 8. Also, anything x 1 works. The perimeter of a 1 x 8 rectangle is 10 and the area is 8.
• Can you build a rectangle with a perimeter that is double the area? A 2 x 2 square works for this. The perimeter is 8 but the area is only 4.
• Can you build a rectangle with an area that is double the perimeter? 8 x 8 works for this. Also 6 x 12.
• How many ways can you build a rectangle with an area of 56? There are three ways. 7 x 8, 4 x 12, and 2 x 28.

Ready to print your LEGO Perimeter and Area Activity Pages?

Click Here: LEGO Perimeter and Area

The file will open and you can download or print from there!

Then head over to see more LEGO Geometry Activities. Build polygons, learn about volume, and more.