Comparing Height Worksheets Set 1
Children should identify and circle or colour the tallest and shortest in each group. Each of the worksheets ends with an extra activity, asking the children to draw a taller or shorter building.
Comparing Length and Height
Before beginning to measure objects, it is useful to be able to compare and order them, so let's start by introducing children to useful adjectives and comparative adjectives - tall, taller, tallest, long, longer, longest and short, shorter, shortest.
Hands On Ideas
- Towers. Build at least 3 towers of cubes and lego and then discuss which is the shortest and tallest. Move on to discussing whether one tower is shorter or taller. Lay them down flat and discuss length; which is longest?
- Toys. Find a collection of short toys and put them in height order. Which is the tallest? Which is the shortest? Muddle them up and ask the children to rearrange.
- Rope, string or wool. Cut various lengths of wool and lay them out flat. Ask children to rearrange in order from shortest to longest, and name the positions - short, longer, longest etc. What happens if they start from the other end?
- Around and about. Look for the tallest building. Find the tallest child in the classroom.
- Vocabulary cards. Put out groups of objects and ask children to place the correct vocabulary word card (below) on the tallest, shortest and longest in each group as appropriate.
- Opposites. Talk about opposites. The opposite of long? The opposite of short?
Taking It Further
- Equals. What happens when two objects are the same length or height? Make sure that any of the objects you are comparing above are the same length. How would you describe them? For example, "Anna is the same height as Muhammad", or "This piece of string is as long as that piece of string."
- Measuring. Sometimes it isn't obvious which is taller, shorter or longer. Discuss how you might decide.
- Children might suggest putting both objects side by side, or standing back to back to compare height.
- Perhaps you could use a marker to decide which is taller / shorter etc. For example, one child might be taller than a mark on the whiteboard, while another child might be shorter.
- Children may begin to realise that you can use "things" to measure, such as objects, body parts and rulers, which takes them neatly onto the next steps.
Our Comparing Length and Height Resources
Comparing Height Worksheets Set 2
This set of 2 worksheets asks children to identify the tallest and shortest in the group and colour them in according to instructions. The second worksheet also asks the children to recognise and colour in objects which are the same height.
Comparing Length Worksheets Set 1
This first set of worksheets simply asks children to identify the longer or shorter in each group of objects. The last activity is to draw a longer worm or a shorter caterpillar, to make the worksheets a little bit more fun!
Jack and the Beanstalk Order by Height Worksheet
Number the Jack and the Beanstalk characters from tallest to shortest on this fun worksheet, which comes in colour or black and white.
Measurement Vocabulary Word Cards
These word cards introduce the first measurement words that children will need to learn - including comparative adjectives for measuring length and height and simple metric (UK) and traditional (US) units of measurement.
Measuring Words Handwriting Worksheet 1
Learn to write and spell these comparative adjectives, commonly used in early measurement activities - tall, taller, tallest, short, shorter, shortest, and long, longer, longest.
Taller, Longer and Shorter Worksheet
Fill in the blanks with the words taller, shorter and longer. Children could work in pairs while they complete this worksheet.
