Marshmallow and Toothpick 3D Shape Worksheets

Download these free printable marshmallow and toothpick 3D shape worksheets as a fun educational activity that teaches kids geometry.

We all know that marshmallows are great for roasting on the fire. Did you also know that they’re great for teaching kids about 3D shapes?

These printable marshmallow and toothpick 3D shape worksheets will help your little ones learn to identify shapes and help them with building shapes. Just set out some marshmallows, toothpicks, and the printed out geometric cards.

They’ll have so much fun making their own 3D structures that it won’t even feel like learning! I mean, who doesn’t love a STEM project that includes a bag of marshmallows?

These free printable marshmallow and toothpick geometry cards are fun stem activities. They’re perfect for the classroom as part of a geometry lesson, or to do at home with your little ones!

Younger kids love to explore and create 3D shapes, and these free printable marshmallow and toothpick 3D shape worksheets are perfect for doing just that! This is a great activity for first graders!

These would be a great way to teach about the different types of 3-dimensional shapes. Building toothpick sculptures is a fun activity for kids who need help with their fine motor skills.

There are different shapes to work on, including a cube, prisms, pyramids, and more.

You can download all 8 marshmallow and toothpick cards for FREE at the end of the article or you can right click on the specific image of the page you want to save and print an individual page.

We hope you enjoy making shapes out of marshmallows and toothpicks as much as we did.

Why is building structures an amazing STEM activity?

One reason is that it develops problem-solving skills. To build a 3D structure with marshmallows and toothpicks, kids must use their spatial reasoning to build three dimensional shapes.

Another reason 3D building structures can be amazing STEM play is that it allows children to experiment with geometry concepts like symmetry, angles, and understanding vertices and edges.

Finally, to build a solid structure you need a good design, the right amount of pieces, a solid base, and basic engineering skills.  To build a great structure, kids must plan their design, understand concepts like weight distribution and balance, and consider the limits of the materials they have to work with.

These all contribute to STEM learning.

Building structures can be an excellent outlet for children’s natural creativity because it allows them to exercise a wide variety of problem solving skills that will help them in school and beyond.

How do I get my kids building 3D structures?

The best way to get kids started building structures with marshmallows and toothpicks is to show them the concepts, then let them explore on their own and make their own shapes.

Start by giving your children an explanation of how they can make a variety of 3D shapes with marshmallows and toothpicks, using the 3D Shape cards as a reference.

Demonstrate how you can use two toothpicks to make a line, three toothpicks to make a triangle, four toothpicks to make a square, and then how to use these simple 2D shapes as a base for 3-d shapes like cubes, and rectangular prisms.

Once kids have mastered the shapes on the geometric cards provided let them experiment! Let your children explore what they can build, how high they can stack the marshmallows and toothpicks, and which shapes will support a structure best.

What does my child need to Build 3D Geometric Shapes?

All you’ll need to get started building 3D structures with marshmallows and toothpicks is the following:

Marshmallows – one bag per child should suffice. Mini marshmallows are best.

Toothpicks – a few packs depending on how many children will be participating in the activity.

Plate or surface to build structures on, such as a tray, baking pan, or piece of cardboard.

The 3D Shape worksheets printed out and set out as a guide.

Safety information for Building with Marshmallows and Toothpicks

Whether you plan on building structures with your child or letting them explore independently, there are some things you will want to know as a parent.

These items are small and represent a choking hazard, so you’ll want to keep your children away from babies and toddlers while they’re building.

Toothpicks can be very sharp! Watch out for poking accidents and make sure that younger siblings don’t try to eat any marshmallows off the toothpicks!

Marshmallows are sticky. Don’t be surprised if they get everywhere!

The most important point is that your child is old enough to not put these items in their mouths or ears – even with supervision!

What Can I do with my Child after we make 3D Shapes?

3D structures are great STEM learning tools, but they aren’t the only learning opportunity presented through this activity.

Here are a few other ways you can use these 3D shapes:

• Play with them! Let your kids build and play and explore to their hearts content.
• Make a game of it! Have children put their structures together and see how high they can build, or who can make the design with the most marshmallows first.
• Look for 3D shapes in everyday life! There are shapes all around you. Help your child to search them out and identify them, then talk about the ways they’re used in the real world.
• Read a book! There are many books about shapes that kids will enjoy. Look for titles with 3D shapes, or search through your children’s favorite stories and see if there’s a shape you can find on each page!
• Take a walk outside and examine the shapes of the natural world.
• Create 3D structures with other items! Marshmallows aren’t the only thing you can build with, so find other items and let your kids get creative!

Marshmallow 3D Shape Worksheets

The Marshmallow and toothpick shapes worksheet will give kids a starting point of becoming familiar with making a variety of different 3 dimensional shapes.

It’s a good idea to get your child started by having them make some simple 2d geometric forms like squares, triangles, and rectangles.

Then they can use these 2d shapes to make 3 dimensional structures with their marshmallows and toothpicks.

The worksheets in this printable set include a cube, a rectangular prism, a triangular prism, a pentagonal prism, a triangular pyramid, and an octahedron.

More Free Math Printables for Kids

Make this fun number sense busy bag for your preschool or kindergarten aged kids to help them practice counting and numbers! Great for quiet time or centres! Free printable number cards are included in the tutorial!

Use these free printable Construction Trucks Math Pack worksheets for Kindergarten to 1st Grade to help your child work on small motor skills, math skills, shapes and other basic skills.

7 Fun Pages of Monster Themed Math Worksheets (for Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 1 aged kids!) You are going to love this FREE printable Monster Math Pack for kids.

 

DOWNLOAD THE WITCH ACTIVITY PRINTABLE SET

This 7 page Marshmallow Geometry Worksheet printable set is a great way to explore 3D shapes with kids.

Grab the 3D Shape Worksheets for FREE and print it today.

★TERMS OF USE:
………………………………………………………….
You may use this file for your own PERSONAL USE ONLY. File sharing, distribution, and commercial use of this file or of the printed work from this file are prohibited. You are welcome to print as many copies as you like for yourself. The designs can not be used for any commercial purpose or resold. You may NOT use these files for publishing on any platform under any circumstances.