3D shape templatesSquare pyramid
Pyramid template
A square-based pyramid net with a square base, four triangles and four glue tabs. It works for geometry lessons, history projects on Egypt and desk decorations.
- Set it up your way
- Print or PDF, Letter or A4
- Free, no sign-up
On this page
A square pyramid has five faces: one square and four triangles that meet at a point. Its net looks like a plus sign with a square in the middle and a triangle stuck to each side.
What prints
The sheet is titled "Square Pyramid Template". The square sits in the center, and each of its four edges has a triangle attached. The triangles are taller than they are wide: the slant height is about nine tenths of the base side, so the finished shape has a fairly low, wide profile.
Each triangle has one grey glue tab on its right-hand side. The tabs are slightly inset from the corners, so they fold cleanly. The base is joined to its triangles along dashed fold lines, and neighboring triangles are separated by cuts you make from the outer points down to the base corners.
A key at the bottom of the page shows what a solid line, a dashed line and a grey tab mean. The page has no name or date box.
The settings
- Shape: Square pyramid (the setting this page opens on). Other choices are cube, gift box, triangular prism, cylinder and cone.
- Size: Small, Medium or Large, with lengths at 0.75, 1 and 1.2 times medium. If a large net is too big, it is scaled down to fit.
There is no dice option for this shape.
Folding order
Cut the outline, then cut the short line between each glue tab and the triangle beside it. Fold each triangle up along the dashed edge of the base, so the points meet above the middle. Put glue on one tab and press it under the edge of the next triangle. Work around until the last tab closes the shape.
For a sturdy pyramid, pick 65 to 110 lb card. Print at actual size. Blunt-tip scissors are enough for children, but an adult should handle the gluing of the final tab, which is the hardest to reach.
Worked example: a pyramid for a unit on ancient Egypt
Ms. Bell's third grade is building a model of the Great Pyramid for a display. She prints the Large size on beige card stock, one per table group, then asks the students to draw on stone blocks with a ruler before folding. The base side is long enough to fit a few rows of blocks.
When the pyramids are done, the class counts faces and edges together: five faces, eight edges and five vertices. One student notices that four of the faces have the same shape and one does not. The teacher asks them to name which. Later, a few students glue a small door shape on one triangle with a gray marker, and the group stands the pyramids beside a printed circle template sun.
Where to go next
For another flat-faced solid, try the triangular prism template, which also folds from a flat page.